Traffic(Old)
by Death's Lonely Assistant
Summary: Don't read this. There is a newer version.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or anything related. **

Chapter 1

Aerith's family was not a normal family. Of course, it may have been more normal then any other family in that town. Her mother's name was Ifalna and her father was dead. As a child, she'd been bounced through homes, most notably, the home of Elmyra. The woman had kept her until she was 6 and they'd felt like an actual family. But she was taken away and given to a woman Minerva, with absolutely no explanation as to why.

In the beginning, she resented Minerva. She wanted nothing more, but by the time Minerva decided to get married, they had become closer then she could imagine.

Minerva married a man name William, who had adopted a child of his own. It was a weird set up, they all seemed like strangers at one point. But they grew on each other, and their lives were fairly normal until one evening in July…

0.o.0.o.0

It was 6 O'Clock in the evening and Genesis was determined to eat as much junk food as he could before dinner. He was sprawled out on the couch with a bag of potato chips tucked under one arm and a large two liter of cola under the other. On the table in front of him was an array of sweets and drinks.

He smiled at them, Minerva would never approve of this, but that was the point. He wanted to make her head explode in anger. He found it quite hilarious when she was angry and went well out of his way to make sure she was greatly irritated everyday.

"Genesis?" he heard her call. His smile grew and he took a large gulp from the cola, "Genesis, can you-" her eyes almost bulged out of her head, "Genesis! Where did you get all of this?" she demanded.

"I found it." he said through a mouthful of chips. She wrinkled her nose at him and shook her head.

"Dinner will be ready soon, you'll spoil your appetite." she crossed her arms and stepped in front of him, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"A billion?" he suggested.

"Genesis…" she shook her head and sighed, "I need you to do something for me."

"Nope."

"We need rice from the store. I forgot to get some earlier." Minerva dug through her pockets for some money, "Get some milk too."

"No thanks, it's like 6." he took another large gulp of the cola and burped.

"If you plan on eating dinner tonight, then I suggest you go." she dangled a bill in front of his face, "Come on, you can keep the change."

"Nope. Make Aerith go, she's been in her room all day." Genesis said, "And also, if you haven't noticed, my dinner is right here." he gestured to the snacks, "I'll be fine."

"Your so difficult." Minerva sighed as she left the room and went to find Aerith. Genesis heard the conversation from the kitchen and rolled his eyes. Aerith was far too innocent and sweet for her own good. Sure, he loved her, but her good girl act was annoying and he wished she would just be normal.

"Do you want anything from the store genesis?" Aerith asked as she slipped on her shoes.

"Brownies." he said without looking at her, "Lots and lots of brownies." He heard her giggle and leave the house and sighed, she was far too innocent. And that was never good for anyone.

0.o.0.o.0

She didn't ask why Genesis hadn't gone out instead of her, she didn't need to. Genesis had gotten comfortable before and had no intent to move. She'd call him lazy if it wasn't for the fact that he did more then she did in a week then she did in a month.

She sighed and sped up, she was going to try not to get distracted this time, but considering how many people she knew that were out on the streets, that would be impossible. In fact, it had been thirty minutes before she finally finished a walk that should have taken 5 minutes tops. Minerva would be upset, there wasn't a doubt in her mind about that. But she wouldn't be too mad, after all, she was only a little late.

Aerith rushed into the store and grabbed the items, in her haste, she forgot the brownies. After paying for the items she left as quickly as she came.

The sky had darkened considerably in the short time she was in the store and she found herself slightly nervous. This was a good town, for sure, but all towns had their creeps. She situated the milk in her arms and sped up. There wasn't anyone outside for her to speak to so she was sure she could make it home without a distraction. But after two minutes of walking, she had to stop and readjust the milk in her arms. The coldness of it was making her arms numb. She put it down on the ground and rubbed some feeling back into her arms.

A car pulled up on the sidealk next to her. A van, she noticed, it was most likely Minerva. She'd been gone a while and she must have been worried. "Minerva?" she questioned as the doors opened. In a second, she realized that it wasn't her mom. Instead, she was faced with a very large man. Her instincts told her to run. But by the time her feet got the message, she'd already been pulled into the car. She tried to scream, but a cloth was stuffed in her mouth, halting all attempts to alert anyone to what was happening.

She struggled and kicked but the man held her firmly.

"Will you stop moving?" he asked, "We haven't even done anything yet." There were 3 people in the car, one driving up front and the other two holding her down in the back. The large man had begun tying her up with some sort of itchy cloth and she squirmed, trying to make it as hard for him as she could. "I wouldn't struggle too much, you'll hurt yourself." the large man leaned in close to her face and smiled.

"Get away from her, you'll scare her." the other man laughed. The larger man complied and moved away.

"Where are we going? Are we taking this one home?" he asked.

"Aren't we forgetful today? We went through this before we grabbed her." the man in the front sighed, "Can't we trust you to recall anything?"

"You didn't answer my question." the big man grunted.

"Home, Loz. We're taking her home." the driver sighed. She felt one of them rubbing her legs and she tried to kick him away.

"She's a lot more resistant then she looks." he laughed as he pinched her. Aerith jumped and tried to move away, but only succeeded and presses herself into Loz's chest.

"She likes me better then you, 'daj." Loz laughed.

"Doesn't matter, I'm still going to get what I need tonight." She pushed the cloth from her mouth with her tongue.

"Let me go." she breathed. Loz picked up the cloth and tried to stuff it back into her mouth, but she turned away from him, "What do you want from me?" the man on her right waved his hand and Loz let the tissue drop.

"My name is Kadaj." he introduced himself, "You may call me whatever you wish. It always makes me laugh when I see girls like you wandering the streets at night. Don't your parents teach you anything?"

"What?"

"She's not smart." Loz said.

"And neither are you." KAdaj retorted, "But little girl, what we're saying is, you belong to us now, and you won't be seeing your family again." Her heart almost stopped and her eyes widened, "Now she gets it." Kadaj smiled.

"You have to let me go." she said, "I… I'm not what you want."

"Firstly, I don't _have _to do anything. Secondly, you're exactly what we want." Kadaj said, "You're young, you're pretty, and from the looks of things, you're a virgin."

"You can tell just by looking at her?" Loz questioned curiously.

"I can, she's got an innocence in her eyes that tells you all you need to know." Kadaj said, "But to be sure, are you a virgin?"

"I-" she started, she was unsure of what to say. She didn't want to give any personal information to this person.

"We won't get to play if she is will we?" Loz questioned sadly. She didn't know what they meant by 'play' but if she could get out of it, she would.

"I haven't… I mean…"

"Listen to that, she's never had sex before." Kadaj sighed, "Disappointing, but there are still other things we can do to her."

"How much longer, Yazoo?" Loz asked, "I think our friend at home is gone."

"She's drugged up, she won't be going anywhere." Yazoo said, "And it won't be too long. Put tha gag back in her mouth." Loz grabbed her face and forced her mouth open. She tried to push the cloth away with her tongue, but he forced it back in. She couldn't help thinking that she should have screamed when she had the chance.

"Who's going first?" Loz asked eagerly, "Can it be me?"

"You're messy Loz, you won't be going first with anybody." Kadaj snorted.

"But I found her!" Loz argued, "That means I get dibs!"

"I said no." Kadaj said calmly, "You'll go last."

"That's not fair." Loz sniffled.

"Stop it, you look foolish." Kadaj hissed, "You can't cry about everything."

"I don't!" Loz roared.

"Calm down. You can have my turn, I'll be too tired to do anything tomorrow." Yazoo said. Loz and Kadaj conversed but she couldn't bring herself to listen. She needed to untie herself if she was ever going to escape. The moment they took her out of the car, she was going to make a run for it.

"Here we are. Give her the shot, Loz." Kadaj ordered. She tensed as a needle was pressed into her arm and her body went limp. The numbness spread quickly and she was easily pulled from the car. Her vision blurred and she heard them talking.

"I'll call Don, I think he'll like this one." Yazoo said.

"He'll buy her even if he doesn't, I heard half of his last batch have so many STD's that he had to get rid of them all." Kadaj said, "His place is filthy." She blinked, trying to stay conscious. She was never going to go home again, she could already tell. And the revelation was filling her heart with dread.

A whimper escaped her lips and she began to cry. She watched her tears hit the floor before passing out.

0.o.0.o.0

First rewrite, done. I'm glad too. I think it's much better then the original and provides a little more characterization of their family. The rewrite shouldn't take long, I should be back to where I was in a month or so.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: contains rape. If that's too much for you, don't read. I'm not sure if it's detailed as most, but it's there.

Chapter 2

Aerith woke up with the biggest headache ever, she couldn't remember much from the day before. Something seemed wrong, and she didn't need to open her eyes to know it. She couldn't smell breakfast cooking like usual. No eggs, bacon, or biscuits. Her mom must've left early to get something, that was the only reason she wouldn't be cooking.

She felt large hands on her body, and she groaned, "Get out of my room Genesis…" she mumbled.

"Genesis?" Aerith's eyes snapped open and she stared into the face of one of her kidnappers. She remembered now, she'd been kidnapped the night before by three men. Loz, Kadaj, and Yazoo. They gave her a shot that made her sleep and now she was being rubbed up by the biggest one, Loz.

She wiggled away and kicked at him, "Don't touch me!" she shouted. The man just chuckled and moved over to her. He continued to feel every part of her body. Aerith kicked him in his stomach and scooted up against the wall. Loz stood up holding his stomach.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "You don't want to play?" Aerith shook her head and watched him closely. He pulled out a cell phone and called someone. "She's awake." he said, "And she kicked me, can I punish her?" There was a long pause and then Loz threw the phone down. "I'm not allowed to touch you until after Kadaj." he said angrily. Aerith kept her lips sealed and waited for his next move. That move happened to be him walking over and sitting down next to her. "Kadaj will be here soon." he said, "We only have a few more hours before you go, I'll make it fun."

Aerith looked down at her hands, tied messily on her lap. She glanced up at him, he was still rambling about what he was going to do to her. She started to mess with the ropes. Maybe she could get out and choke him with it. Like in the movies. Loz pressed his hands over hers, "What're you doing? Do you want to get in more trouble?" he asked. Aerith pulled her hands away and shook her head.

The door opened and Kadaj walked in, "Take her to my bedroom Loz." he said. He was dragging a girl in behind him. Loz picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, "Don't touch her Loz." Kadaj warned, "Or you won't get to play."

Aerith bit her lip and watched the ground as they left the room. She was hoping to have a little more time before this started. She started to untie herself again. The ropes weren't tied to well and she managed to escape. She'd just wait for him to put her down before running. She kept the rope tight in her hands. She could use it if she needed to. "Okay we're here." Loz set her down and she took off.

She ran as fast as she could down the hall. She couldn't find the door anywhere. Loz was barreling towards her and she couldn't risk stopping to look around. She kept running until she fell. No… someone tripped her. A long leg was sticking out from the door way. Aerith looked up slowly and saw the driver, Yazoo, pointing a gun down at her. "You almost let another one escape." he said calmly, "This is the fourth time Loz."

"She ran! I put her in Kadaj's room and she booked it!" Loz said.

"I don't care how it happened, the point is that this has been happening too much. Do you know what happens if we get caught?" Yazoo asked. Loz shook his head, "We go to jail. For a very long time."

"She wasn't going to get away." Loz mumbled.

Yazoo rolled his eyes and pulled Aerith off the ground, "Take her back to Kadaj's room and don't let go until you have her tied down." He pushed her into Loz and went back into his room. Loz grabbed her roughly and started to drag her back to Kadaj's room.

"You got me in trouble." he said. Aerith twisted in his grip, "Stop trying to get away!" he threw her into Kadaj's room and shut the door. "I'm not supposed to hit you, but you keep making me mad." He pulled the rope from her hands and threw it down. He picked her up and put her into bed, he handcuffed her to the bed and sat down, "I can undo the handcuffs when we play. Kadaj likes them to be chained down." he said.

"Let me go home." she said softly, "I won't tell on you or anything, just let me go."

"I can't, because Kadaj will get mad. And we won't get enough money to keep our house." Loz said. He poked at her legs, "This is your fault anyway." he muttered, "You were wearing a pretty dress. Your legs are showing and you have pretty hair."

"So does my mom but you didn't kidnap her." Aerith snapped.

"We might." Loz said, "It would be fun to have the whole family." His fingers traveled up her legs and he made circles with them near the bottom of her skirt. "We could do it in the tub." he suggested.

"Please… let me go." she said.

"Stop asking, I can't do that." he said. Kadaj entered the room angrily.

"Yazoo told me you almost let her escape." he said.

"It was an accident." Loz mumbled.

"You've had too many accidents Loz!" Kadaj smacked his brothers head, "Get out! You don't get to play."

"That's not fair!" Loz yelled back, "I found her!"

"Who cares? Don is sending someone to get the girls sooner then planned. I have to test her out before then. You can go find another. I'll even let you keep this one a few days. Now get out of my sight." Kadaj said. Loz made a face and walked away. Kadaj turned his attention to Aerith, "Are you ready?"

Aerith shook her head rapidly, she wouldn't be ready for anything like this in a while. "Please don't do this." she begged. Her heart was racing and she felt herself beginning to cry.

Kadaj just rolled hi eyes, "I haven't even started yet." he closed the door and locked it, "Seriously, it's only going to get worse." Aerith closed her eyes and tried to calm down. It'd only hurt worse if she didn't. She couldn't get her heart to beat at a normal pace and as much as she tried to unfreeze her body, she still remained tensed up. Feeling Kadaj's cold hands on her just freaked her out more. She couldn't believe what was happening. He tore her dress off and felt her stomach.

He pulled down his pants, "We've gotta do this quick, Don likes his women clean. I'll get you a bath after this." he pulled out his cock and Aerith gasped at the length. Yes, this was going to hurt. She closed her eyes again and let him rip off her underwear. He turned her over, twisting her cuffed arms uncomfortably above her head, and felt her butt. "You're a nice looking girl you know that?" he slid in with out warning. Aerith bit her lip to keep from screaming.

She tried to put her mind somewhere else and let him do what he wanted. She thought about her mom and her step brother. Were they worried? Did they know she was kidnapped? None of the thoughts distracted her from what was happening between her legs. It was too painful to ignore. Kadaj wasn't taking it easy on her either. He wanted her to scream and he went as hard as he could. He pulled out and slammed back in, a scream tore out of her throat and Kadaj laughed.

"That's what I like to hear." he said. He repeated the action and listened to her screams. He slowed down and pulled out. "We're not done yet." he said, "Don't get your hopes up." He turned her back onto her back and climbed up to her. He started to unlock the cuffs, "I'm trusting you not to run now." She pulled her hands to her chest once the cuffs were off.

"Don't hurt me anymore." she begged. She didn't know what else Kadaj had planned but she knew it couldn't be good. Kadaj stood up and pulled his pants back up. He pulled her up and led her into the hall. She could feel blood running down her legs and it hurt to walk. The went to a room across the hall and Aerith was thrown back onto bed.

"Hey Loz, I just thought of something." Kadaj said, "Two at a time, you go in too."

Loz looked up fro his spot on the floor, "Really?" he asked. He sounded too excited. Kadaj simply nodded and closed the door, "I'll go in first, you wait until I say go." Aerith didn't try to get away, she knew hse wouldn't get far even if she tried. She had to sit back and let them do what they wanted to her. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

She felt Kadaj enter her again and could only hope that Loz wasn't as big as Kadaj was. But he was, maybe even bigger. When she felt him push in, it felt like she was being torn in two. She screamed and begged but they didn't stop. It went on for what seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes. She figured that if they still had a few hours left of this, she'd die before the day was over.

Eventually she passed out, but she was sure they kept going while she was out. She woke up in a raggedy truck, she was wearing fresh clothes and was in serious pain. Her thighs ached and her head throbbed. There was a girl sitting next to her, "I thought you might've been dead…" she said softly, "I heard you screaming, it must've hurt…"

"Yeah." Aerith said, "W-who are you?"

"My name is Yuffie." she said, "They took me a few weeks ago."

"I'm Aerith… do you know where they're taking us?"

"Haven't you heard? Don Corneo lives in Germany. We're going there. He's going to put us up for sale, unless you're pretty." Yuffie said, "If you're pretty, he keeps you, like a pet. Kadaj says in cages."

"But… I need to get home." Aerith said, "Are you sure that's where we're going?"

"I-If we're out of the country… it'll be harder to get caught." Yuffie bent her head into her hands and sobbed. Aerith wanted to cry too, but she didn't have any tears left at the moment. She let her head dip and closed her eyes. She had to be a little thankful that it was her instead of one of her friends, would they have taken Genesis if he'd gone out?

"So we really won't be able to go home?" Aerith asked. She tried to keep calm, but that was hard. Especially when she knew what her future would be. She let Yuffie lean on her shoulder and tried to stay calm. "Maybe we could stay together, we'll be fine that way right?"

"Maybe…" Yuffie muttered.

/\/\/\/\/\

They were loaded onto an airplane a few hours later. The two men who were driving them closed the doors and left them in the dark. There were 4 other girls, all of them older then Yuffie and Aerith. They all looked scared, which in turn made Aerith scared. Something was going to happen the moment they took off. "Those poor babies." someone said. Yuffie held her arm and whimpered.

The plane started to move, they were lifting off. A lot of people huddled up and a few minutes after the plane began flying, someone came in. "Alright, where are the newbies?" he asked. The people didn't waste anytime pointing them out. The man turned to them and smiled, "Alright, let's go." He walked away and Aerith watched after him.

"What's that mean?" she asked.

"He wants you to follow, both of you." a woman said. Aerith gulped and stood up. Yuffie unwillingly stood as well. Hearts raced as they walked into the main area of the plane. The plane was strange, there were no chairs, just beds. 2 of them, each with hungry looking men on them. All over the walls were whips and chains. The man closed the door behind them and pulled them apart.

"Go on, pick one." he said.

"Loz said that one was a virgin. And we already paid him for one. So I want her." he pointed to Aerith, "I want to take it from her." The man stood up and grabbed her. He didn't waste anytime. He threw her onto bed and began taking off her clothes. He did it gently and placed the clothes next to her, "She's beautiful, I just wish they weren't so rough with her." he said. He leaned down and put his nose to her face, "You can call me Ray." he said. Aerith turned away and he grabbed her face roughly, "Don't be so resistant, I don't want to ruin that pretty face of yours." He forced a kiss and let her go.

"I bet I can get this one to scream louder then yours." the other man said.

"You're on Paul." Ray said. He looked down at Aerith and forced her legs apart, "Ready, set… Go!" He shoved himself deep in her vagina and all she could feel was burning. She knew she was bleeding and screaming, and she knew that she was going to be going through this a lot. He slammed in and out, trying out different positions and moaning in her ears. He squeezed her chest and nibbled her ears.

Ray got down on the bad and forced her to sit on his cock, he lifted her up and down slowly before holding her up and slamming into her again. She screamed and he smiled, "I think I'm winning Paul!" he said with a laugh. Aerith heard Yuffie scream and Paul laughed.

"No you're not!" he said. Suddenly there was silence on Paul's bed, "I think she passed out." he sighed and pulled out, "Let me in her ass." he said.

"Hold on." Ray turned her and pulled her down onto him, "Okay go." He kissed her again and Paul entered her already sore behind.

"She's so tight." he thrust hard and grabbed onto her hair. She bit her lip and tried not to scream. Paul went hard and groaned loudly, "So much better then that other girl.

"She was a virgin." Ray said with a laugh. Aerith kept her eyes closed, she knew if she opened them she'd be staring right into Ray's face. She could feel tears escaping her eyes and she tried to hold it in. She felt humiliated enough as it was, she couldn't have herself crying in front of them. "Don't hold it back baby, just cry."

"Yeah, let me hear it." Paul said. Both men stopped thrusting, "Go on." Paul pulled out and lifted her a little, "Trade places." he said. Ray nodded and allowed Paul to flip her over. He then rammed in while Ray was still inside, "Oh… wait, stay like this." They both started to thrust and Aerith couldn't hold it back any longer. She let herself cry and scream, she'd never been in so much pain before. Her mind went numb and she couldn't feel a thing, she could still hear herself screaming and begging, but she couldn't feel a thing. She was sure a few more hours passed before they finally stopped. She sat limply on the bed, her head leaning against the dash board.

"That was fun." Ray said, "How long until we get to Germany?"

"Another 3 hours." Paul said. He pushed Aerith off of the bed, "Get up." he ordered. Aerith couldn't move, she couldn't control her legs at all. Paul kicked her and shouted the order again, "Now!" Aerith pushed her upper body up and grabbed onto the bed. She managed to pull herself to her knees. "Hey Ray look, she wants to give us blowjobs." he said.

"N-no." she mumbled. Paul grabbed her face and shoved his dick inside. She felt ready to throw up. He thrust a little before stopping, he let go of her face. She pulled away and coughed.

"Suck it." he ordered.

"No, please… I can't do that." she cried.

"Do it or I'll kill you." Paul said. Aerith sniffled and grabbed hold of his cock and hesitated. She closed her eyes and put it into her mouth. He moaned and she started to suck, she had no idea what she was doing. But he was enjoying it though. She kept going until he came in her mouth. She pulled away and spit it onto the ground. "She's good." he said.

Paul pulled her up and threw her onto bed, "Let's get something eat." he said to Ray. It then dawned on Aerith that she was starving, she hadn't had dinner the night before, now it was almost night again. Her stomach rumbled and Ray heard it.

"She's hungry." he said with a smile.

"So? They all are." Paul left the room and came back with a bag of chips.

"Want some food?" Ray asked, he snatched the chips away from Paul and dangled them in her face. Aerith didn't answer him, she knew he wouldn't give her the food. She glared at them and covered her body. They'd seen everything on her, they'd been inside of her, but she had to cover herself up. She felt humiliated and had to cover herself somehow. "I guess she's not hungry." Ray started to eat the chips, making sure to chew each chip loudly. A part of her wished she was eating those chips. But not with these men, with her family or friends, even alone in the safety of her bedroom.

She bent her head and wept, she missed her family deeply and she had no idea how she would feel for the rest of her life. She felt angry at her brother for being to lazy to go to the store. She hoped he was feeling guilty. She felt dirty because several men had violated her in one day. She felt guilty, like this was her fault somehow, she was the one who stayed out to late.

Ray and Paul laughed and she curled up. There was nothing they could do to her that would make her feel this dirty. This was not how she expected to lose her virginity. She closed her eyes and felt herself drifting out. She didn't need to sleep but she didn't want to stay awake either. She let sleep take her and slept for what felt like forever.

/\/\/\/\/\

Okay first lemon, I think I did pretty well too. Tell me what you think


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aerith woke up in a shack, it was in what looked like a refugee camp. There was a large man standing over her, he was yelling at all the people to get up. Aerith was pulled up by Yuffie and dragged outside. She wanted to ask what was going on, but something told her that wasn't a good idea. She got into line with all the other woman and waited. Coming out of a shack across from her were a number of kids. Aerith looked away, she couldn't stand seeing children so broken and beaten.

"Alright you sluts, Don Corneo is coming to pick out a few of you, stand here until I say you may sit." a man said, "He already has two picked out. He wants one more and a few of you little brats to clean his house. Look up and don't make me look bad." Aerith knew she was one of the two done had picked out already. Loz had mentioned it. Yuffie might have been the other one, they were both in the house together.

All the people stood silently, it seemed like they were standing outside for hours in the frigid cold, before a red truck pulled up slowly. A short, fat man stepped out. He had a shock of blonde hair combed over his forehead and his shirt was unbuttoned halfway down revealing a little of his hairy chest. He had a tattoo of a heart with an arrow sticking through it, the word 'Love' tattooed above it. He had a large red coat hanging on his shoulders and a cigar hanging from his lips. "Well? Where are they?" he said.

"The two girls are over here." the man said, "They're good catches Don." The other man, Don, stepped over to them. He looked them over and a smile formed on his face. He ran a hand through Yuffie's hair and stroked Aerith's face.

"Yes, take them to my car." Don said. The man nodded and dragged the two girls over to the truck. He threw them in roughly and winked.

"What's going to happen now?" Yuffie asked. She wrapped her arm's around Aerith's waist and buried her face into her shoulder. "I want to go home."

"Yuffie… how old are you?" Aerith asked.

"T-twelve." Yuffie said quietly.

"!2..." Aerith repeated, who would do this kind of stuff to a twelve year old? She put an arm around Yuffie, "At least we'll be together right?" she hardly knew the girl, but she could tell that Yuffie had formed an attachment to her the moment she woke up in the car.

"We could run…" Yuffie said.

Aerith pressed a finger to her lips, now was not the time to talk about that stuff. She knew they'd get in trouble for it. And who knew what Don would do to them if they even thought of escaping. Another teen was pushed into the truck. She immediately curled up and sobbed. "Who are you?" Yuffie asked. The girl looked up, her face was covered in bruises and blood.

She didn't answer them at first, she just sniffled. But then she sat up completely, "Tifa." she said quietly.

Yuffie nodded, "My name is Yuffie, and this is Aerith. How old are you?" she asked softly.

"16." Tifa answered, she was a little shocked at how cheerful Yuffie sounded, as if she wasn't in one of the most dire situations a kid her age could ever be in.

"I'm twelve and Aerith is…

"14." she finished for Yuffie.

"Hey, we're all 2 years apart." Yuffie said, she forced a smile onto her face. Aerith could see that this was all a show though. Yuffie was close to breaking and didn't want anyone to know. A few more minutes passed and two children were thrown into the back, one boy and one girl. The children curled up and looked around. The back door slammed and the car roared to life. It was dark and only a little light spilled through the cracks.

They all remained quiet, mostly out of fear. The car bumped along the road, you could hear people outside and other cars. The drive was short and they found themselves at gunpoint as soon as the door opened. "Out!" the man ordered. They scrambled out of the car and let the man lead them into a large building, giant glowing words hung above it, 'The Honeybee Inn' there were hearts plastered all over the door and the whole place just looked girly and bright. Don entered behond them and placed a hand on Aerith's butt.

"Alright, you are now Honeybee's." he said, "You kids will work after hours cleaning and cooking, aiding the Honeybee's however you can. But now, into the basement." he clapped and pointed to a door. The two children followed order's and went inside. "Now, which ones need to be broken?" he looked the girls over again. He decided that Tifa and Yuffie were already broken. Aerith on the other hand still had a light in her eyes. "Take her to my dungeon." he said.

The word's dungeon caused Aerith to tense up, in movies, a dungeon always meant torture. After everything she'd been through, she couldn't take torture. She bit her lip and glanced back at Tifa and Yuffie. Both girls looked concerned, but none of them spoke up. She looked back down and took a breath. The stairs into the dungeon were dark. No doubt she was scared, the man pushed her down onto a chair and left the room. Aerith looked around the room and saw whips and chains. Everything meant pain for her, not that she'd felt much of anything else before this, but she wasn't ready for more. She heard Don Corneo coming down the stairs and she shuddered

She had no idea what he was going to do, nor how she could get through it.

/\/\/\/\/\

Minerva stared out of the window intently, it was day two and Aerith had yet to return. "I'm sure she's fine." William said, "Now get to bed."

"How can she be fine? She's been gone for two days! She would never be gone that long without telling us where she was going." Minerva said.

"Genesis does it all the time…

"Well Aerith is not Genesis. She was a good girl and she wouldn't just disappear unless someone took her." Minerva said.

"The police are doing all they can, the best thing you can do is get some rest." William lifted her away from the window, "They'll find her and bring her right back to us." he tried to be reassuring but that was impossible. Something bad had happened to Aerith and he wasn't sure what he could do to help her.

Meanwhile Genesis sat in his bed room, rolling his eyes at the sound of Minerva's tears. If this was him, they wouldn't call the police or assume he'd been kidnapped. They'd think he ran of with his friends and immediately think of how long to ground him when he got back. But it was different for Aerith, Genesis was sure she was just abusing her freedom in the family and would be back in a few days or less.

But then he started to think, what if she had been kidnapped? Then what? There was no way of knowing and he liked the other option a lot better.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Just a quick update, made to show what's happening to the family. Aerith will officially start as a Honeybee next chapter. Thank you **oddball167** for your encouraging reviews. R&R


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The breaking process didn't last very long for Aerith, she'd only had a little bit of hope left and now it was gone. She didn't know what to do, Don had thrown her into a room and gave her a bunch of skimpy outfits to wear. She was supposed to let random men come and have sex with her and she was supposed to make sure the men were pleased or she'd get in trouble. She'd been doing it for 15 days now and she felt filthy. Some of the girls seemed to have no problem with it, but she didn't know how much more she could take.

When she first got here they'd thrown her into a dog crate and left her inside of it until her body went numb. Then Don took her out and defiled her body in everyway imaginable. They took pictures and hung them up near the entrance so if the men liked her, they'd know where to go to get her. Her services cost a lot of money, but she was only allowed to have 2 percent of it. That was to be used to buy whatever she needed, but sometimes that wasn't enough to buy anything for herself, sometimes she wouldn't get anything.

Right now, she had no one in her room, she was all alone. She was curled into a ball thinking about home. Maybe her parents were looking for her, maybe they'd find her. She knew she shouldn't even think like that, it was highly unlikely her parents knew she was in some foreign country. No one had seen her get taken either, so all hope was lost.

There was a knock on her door and she froze, she had to force herself up. She didn't need to get in anymore trouble. She walked over to the door and opened it up. She moved away so the guy could come in. This one looked pretty young. She closed the door and waited to see what he wanted. He just sat down on the bed and closed his eyes, "So your new?" he asked.

"Uh… yeah…" Aerith stood near the door and continued to wait. Why was he making conversation? Why didn't he just get it over with and leave?

"Sucks, but you're pretty cute. I pick you." he said.

Aerith raised an eyebrow for a split second, "Where are you from?" he asked. Aerith bit her lip and stayed quiet, she wasn't allowed to talk about herself, just him. He was just testing her and if she slipped up, he'd tell Don. "Come on answer me." he said. Aerith stayed silent. The man sighed and sat up, "You can talk to me, I'm not here for sex or anything." he said, he waited for Aerith to say something before continuing, "My name is Zack. I work here, I saw you get taken to the torture chamber a few weeks back, I had to make sure you were okay."

"You work here…" Aerith said quietly, she didn't know that they recruited guys for this kind of stuff.

Zack chuckled, "Not as a… one of the girls… I work in the kitchen and clean up around here." he said, "I've been here since I was 10." he said.

"10?" Aerith took a step closer, "Uh… how old are you now?" she asked.

"15." he said. Aerith stayed silent and Zack stood up, "I just wanted to see if you were okay. I'll see you in the morning."

He got off of the bed and slipped out of the room, Aerith sighed and sat down. Her stomach growled and she placed a hand over it. It was only 9 at night and she had until 5 in the morning to eat. Her main goal now was to work until the place closed. When it closed, she'd be able to see Yuffie and Tifa.

The door opened without warning and someone stepped in, another customer. Aerith's heart raced and she stood again, she forced a smile onto herself, she knew it looked fake but she didn't care. "How may I help you?" she asked sweetly. She'd seen this guy before, he'd came into her room at least 6 times since she'd been here. He didn't talk much, he just got straight to business and left. He wasn't nice, but he was still the most polite of her usual bunch. His name was Beatus

He closed the door and started to take off his clothes, Aerith herself wasn't wearing anything really. Nothing that she couldn't just slip off in a few seconds. She stepped over to him and waited, Beat stood up and started to rub her body. He nodded and took off the little clothes she had on.

He bent her over the bed and without warning, he entered her. She bit her lip, Beatus didn't like any noises. He just wanted to have his way and leave. She stayed silent and closed her eyes, the only way to get through this was to imagine she was in some other place. Usually, she imagined home. She'd be at home watching TV or even hanging out with friends. A recurring thought was her helping her mom make dinner.

Beatus finished quickly and threw a bill at her, 50 American dollars. "Uh… this isn't enough…" she said. But Beatus continued to get dressed. She knew that if they paid in American dollars, they'd have to pay at least $300. She reached for him but he pulled away. "You have to pay full price." she said desperately. She'd get in trouble if she didn't get all the money she needed. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he slapped her.

Aerith tumbled to the ground and held her face. Beatus walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. A few tears rolled down Aerith's face, she was going to be in so much trouble. She curled up and cried, she was afraid. Afraid of what Don was going to do to her for this slip-up. She threw the money under the bed with the other bills and waited for her next customer.

Time ticked on and on, and finally, it was closing time. She gathered all of her money and set it near the door. Maybe Don wouldn't notice she was short. She curled up near the closet and closed her eyes, she refused sleep in the bed, it was filthy. Sleep didn't come easy, it took her at least thirty minutes to calm herself down enough to even consider sleeping. Of course when she finally did get to sleep, Yuffie was there waking her up. "It's breakfast time." she said softly. Aerith nodded and stood up.

"Just let me get dressed." she said. She searched the closet for her Honeybee uniform. She was required to wear it during the day, when the place served as a "gentlemen's club" She served them drinks and food, Yuffie took orders and Tifa was the one who made the drinks.

Aerith finished dressing and followed Yuffie down to the kitchen, Tifa was waiting at their usual table. They sat down and stayed silent, breakfast was placed in front of them and they started to eat. Breakfast was one of the better things about the place. Don used a lot of money to make sure they were well-fed, he didn't want any of his woman looking starved or dirty. It was a selfish reason but Aerith had to be grateful, according to Tifa, there were a lot worse places out there.

"I saw that guy leave your room… the one who works here." Yuffie said.

"His name is Zack and he came to see if I was alright." Aerith said.

"Are you sure he wasn't trying to get you in trouble?" Yuffie asked, "Because…

"No, I'm not sure but there's nothing I can do now but hope no one else knows he was in there last night." she pushed her breakfast around and ate a little more.

"Someone hit you?" Yuffie asked. Aerith nodded, "Did it hurt?" she nodded again. "Oh, well. I can speak more German." she said.

Aerith and Tifa both nodded, "That's nice." she said. Yuffie continued to make conversation until a bell rang and everybody stood up. It was showering time, Don liked everyone to shower together, sometimes he watched over them, and if he liked one, he'd take them to his room. Aerith had been in his room a lot, Don seemed to like her more then any other girls.

Yuffie grabbed Aerith's hand and started to walk, "He's going to take you away again." she said.

Tifa started walking on her other side, "Maybe he'll choose someone else." she said, "There are lots of other girls here, we'll just stand in the back where he can't see us."

"Yeah." Aerith muttered. They walked into a locker room and found a locker to put their stuff in. They noticed Don wasn't in the room like usual.

"Maybe he won't be here today." Yuffie said. Aerith knew it was stupid to think like that, whenever she did, things turned out bad for her, but she wasn't going to stop Yuffie from doing it. Yuffie had a lot less customers then she did, because she was barely over the working age, there weren't a lot of people who wanted to sleep with someone that young. When a child turned 12, they became a Honeybee. Unless you were a boy, then you continued to work. Yuffie had just turned twelve a few weeks before they'd taken her.

They entered the showers and went into a stall, in the stall was a wash cloth, a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. Aerith turned on the water and started to clean herself. She was covered in bruises and rubbing the wash cloth over them hurt. She shampooed her hair and turned off the water. She'd have a little more time to sleep after this, until 5:00 PM.

"Can we go to your room Aerith? Or you can come to mine." Yuffie said, "I don't want to sleep by myself."

"Yeah, we'll go." Aerith said, she left to get dressed, "Meet me there." She entered the locker room and got dressed. She stepped out and saw Zack sweeping the floors. He looked up and saw her.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked casually. Aerith frowned, what kind of person asked someone who's being forced to work in a whorehouse, 'how's it going?'. She ignored him and walked past him, he followed her down the hall, "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm being kept as a sex slave in a foreign country." she snapped.

"Oh right…" Zack rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry." Aerith found her room and went inside. She laid down on the floor and waited for Yuffie and Tifa to show up. There was a knock on the door and she sighed, it was probably Don. She stood up and opened the door.

"Oh, you…" she said, although she was happy it wasn't Don, she still didn't want to see Zack. "You're going to get me in trouble."

"How? I'm a worker, my job is to help the Honeybee's however I can." he said.

"Just go away." she said quietly, she didn't want to be around any men during her time off. She closed the door in his face and sat on the floor. The door opened and Zack stepped in. "What're you doing?" she asked.

"Were you going to sleep?" he asked, "On the floor?"

"Yes." she said.

"Oh… I get it. We could always change the sheets." he said, "I have extras."

Aerith looked up at him, "really?" she asked, "Why would you want to do that? You don't even know my name."

"You could tell me." he said, "I mean I told you mine."

"It's… Aerith." she muttered. Zack smiled and stood up.

"I'll get the sheets." he said. He walked out of the room and a minute later, Yuffie and Tifa came in.

"I saw him again!" Yuffie said, "What's he doing in here?"

"He just offered to change my sheets." Aerith said.

"why? Tifa asked.

"I don't know." Aerith muttered, "I guess he's just nice."

"Nice people don't exist in this building, even the kids have turned sour." Tifa said.

"I'm sure he's fine." Aerith said, "He's just too happy."

"Too happy?" Yuffie asked, she sat down next to her, "We can talk about escaping." she said quietly.

"We need money for that." Tifa said, "And we barely make 5 dollars a day."

"But we can save it up." Yuffie said, "It could work and I could go home."

"We could try, but we're not really allowed to leave this building." Aerith said. Yuffie frowned and put her head down. "But we'll try." she said. Zack entered the room with the pile of sheets.

"Oh, you have guests, I'm sorry." he set the sheets down, "I need to get back to work." he waved and left.

"I think we should take a nap." Tifa said, "Come on Yuffie, we'll plan together and tell Aerith later." Aerith knew that no real planning would be going on. Tifa knew better, but they'd have to do it for Yuffie. She just hoped no one overheard and told on them.

They left the room and Aerith got up to change the sheets. She pulled off her old sheets and threw them on the floor. She placed the new ones on and sat down, the sheets were soft and reminded her of home. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of home and for some reason, Zack.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Okay, there was a time skip. Hope you guys don't mind. I know this place seems a lot more clean cut then most of them. Everything I've read or seen says brothels are run down houses or something. But This one has a little more class and you can't get in without a membership. R&R


	5. Chapter 5

Aerith woke up to the sound of banging. Her eyes flew to the clock, she'd only been asleep for an hour. It wasn't time to any work and she definitely wouldn't have any clients this early. She stood up and opened the door, there was no one knocking on her door but the sounds were coming from Yuffie's room.

Aerith's heart skipped a beat and she exited her room. No one else was in the hall and Aerith knew she shouldn't be either, but Yuffie was probably in trouble. She heard Yuffie scream and she sped up. She had her hand wrapped around the door knob when someone stopped her. Her hand was ripped away and she was pulled back to her room. "Are you crazy?" the person asked.

Aerith turned around and saw Zack closing the door, "What are you doing out there?" he asked.

"Yuffie is in trouble!" she said.

"There's nothing you can do about it. At least not until Don is finished with her…" Zack said.

"But why is she getting punished?" Aerith asked.

"I don't know, but he looked angry when he went in there." Zack said, "She's a Honeybee Aerith, he won't hurt her too bad."

"But…" Aerith trailed off and sat down, she didn't know what to do. She knew first hand Don's punishments were no joke, but she also knew that the punishment would be even worse for the person being punished if someone interfered. She stared down at the floor and thought, there had to be some way to help Yuffie out. "Maybe I could go to Tifa's room, they were together when I went to bed, she'd know." Aerith said.

"It's not a good idea to leave this room you know." Zack said, "Tifa and Yuffie have already been punished, you don't need to get yourself into trouble either."

"T-tifa's been punished too?" Aerith asked, she couldn't believe it. They couldn't have done anything wrong in the time she was asleep. The only thing she knew they'd done was talk about escaping… "On no…" she whispered.

"What is it?" Zack asked. He watched her curiously and waited for an answer. But she never gave him one, she just curled into a ball and started crying. "Aerith? What's wrong?" he asked. He walked over to the bed and reached for her.

"Don't touch me… I'm going to be touched all night by strangers… I don't want anyone touching me right now." she murmured.

"What? I'm not trying to do anything like that…" Zack said, "But I get it." he backed away and watched her, "You don't need to cry you know." His words had no affect on the girl, she only seemed to curl up tighter. He sighed, "I have to work, don't want to get in trouble." he muttered. He was sure Aerith didn't care at the moment but he felt the need to say it anyway. He opened the door and slipped out just as Don Corneo stomped by the room. There eyes connected and Zack retracted in fear. Don smirked and kept walking.

Zack sighed and walked back into Aerith's room. "Hey, he's done with Yuffie." he said. Aerith looked up and nodded. Zack waited a minute before leaving the room again. He walked in the same direction as Don, making sure to take small steps. He didn't want to meet up with him again.

Even though Zack was a lot taller then Don, he was scared shitless of him. Don couldn't hurt him, Zack was too strong for that. But he could hurt people he cared about, like his family back home. They were in America, but Zack knew that Don had men down there. How else had Aerith gotten here?

He made it to his run down room in the basement. A few people were still sleeping, most of them children. He sighed, he wanted to let them sleep but they had to work. He walked over and shook them gently, the first child, Denzel if he remembered correctly, shot up and blinked. Tears ran down his cheeks and he wiped them away, "Hey calm down, you just need to clean upstairs before the bar opens." he said.

Denzel nodded and got out of bed, Zack watched him stumble his way to the supply closet and grab a broom. He leaned against the wall for a minute before going upstairs.

Zack then turned to the next child, a little girl named Marlene. She was awake and staring at him, "Heya Marlene, we need to get to work." he said.

"Okay." she said quietly. She stood up and stretched her arms above her head. They walked over to the supply closet and got their cleaning materials. Zack watched Marlene the same way he'd watched Denzel. They were both so young, it was unfair that they were forced into this. He felt horrible, because the only reason Don had gotten knew kids was because Zack himself wasn't cleaning up good enough.

"You get to leave sometimes?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah, why?" he asked.

"Because, tomorrow is Denzel's birthday." she said, "I save all my money so I could buy him a cupcake."

"That's nice." Zack said. He started to sweep around the bar, Marlene followed suit.

"Can you get it for me?" she asked, "I can't leave."

"Yeah, I think I can try." Zack said, he couldn't promise much, but he could try. He wasn't sure how far he'd have to go, but he'd get a cupcake before tomorrow. "What kind of cupcake should we get?" he asked.

"Chocolate." Marlene said, "I bet he likes chocolate." Zack nodded, he could handle it. Maybe he could get a cake instead. He wasn't doing anything with his money.

Zack cleaned the area carefully, making sure any of the beer cans from the day before were picked up. Any stains were wiped off the tables and even the smallest piece of trash was picked up. This place had to be spotless, it had to shine. If it didn't, they'd all get in trouble. And he knew too well that these kids couldn't take a beating from Don. They'd already received one for sleeping in, he be damned if they got another one for slacking off.

He gazed at the bar and nodded at the children, "I think we've done good." he said, "Go on to the kitchen and start making the dough." Both Denzel and Marlene nodded and headed off to the kitchen obediently. Zack headed back to their room with the supplies. He could hurry and get the cake before working hours began.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

I'm not proud of this chapter, it's short and I had other things on my mind while writing and I apologize. I was also wondering if anybody would want to know how everyone got there, I already planned on telling about Zack, but you know, Yuffie and Tifa… and any other characters I put in. Let me know. R&R


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Genesis stared up at the ceiling angrily. He couldn't believe what had just taken place. Minerva, the oh so virtuous step mom, screamed at him for no reason. Okay, maybe there was a reason; he hadn't cleaned the dishes the night before. But he understood that one.

It was what she said at the end of the conversation that got him, "It's your fault she's gone!" He didn't need to think for a second, he knew who she was talking about. Minerva rushed off crying and he ended up smashing a few plates on the floor. How could she even say something like that? How could it have possibly been his fault? He's not the one who sent her out in the dead of night for a box of rice and some milk, why couldn't they have had sandwiches that night, this whole situation could have been avoided.

Still, there was a feeling deep in his chest whenever he thought about it, he was a little guilty. If he hadn't been so lazy, Aerith wouldn't have gone missing, she would have been home being the perfect daughter his father wanted.

He sighed and closed his eyes; she'd been gone for 2 months. 2 whole months and since then, his life had transformed into a pile of crap. Not only was Minerva spending all her time at the police station, but his dad was spending nights at the bar, leaving him to fend for himself. Not that he couldn't, he was 16 after all, and he knew how to make his own dinner. But then there were people in school who would come up to him and tell him how sorry they were, as if Aerith was never coming back.

Genesis thought it was all stupid, she wasn't dead and no one kidnapped her, she just… ran away to get away from the family for a little. Minerva always said she'd been anxious to see her real family, her mom and her aunt, what were their names? Elmyra and… Ifalna? He couldn't remember and he didn't really care, all he knew is that they had Aerith and would send her back later.

He told that to his school counselor and they claimed he was going through denial, trying to hide his guilt and make the whole situation seem better then it really was.

He wasn't really sure what to believe, but he knew that when Aerith finally came back, he was going to punch her for making everyone worry.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Minerva chewed the tip of her pen anxiously, where was that damn officer? It was just like him to be late. He didn't seem to understand the case; her baby was missing and needed to be found. And how was that supposed to happen if the officer working her case was dilly-dallying at a Dunkin' Donuts?

She pulled out her phone and dialed his number frantically; she was just about to hit talk when she heard his voice. She stood up and scanned the room for him, he was near the door. "I got the coffee everyone." he said.

Minerva narrowed her eyes, how could he be so calm when her daughter was lying somewhere in a dusty old basement, starving and crying, and being assaulted in several ways. It brought tears to her eyes whenever she thought about it. What were they doing to her? Who had taken her? Was she even still alive?

"Mrs. Rhapsodos? I told you I'd call you when I found something new." she heard. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the man in front of her.

"Tseng, you said that weeks ago and I haven't gotten a call, what's taking so long?" she asked.

"We haven't found anything, you're daughter seems to have disappeared without a trace." Tseng said, he set his cup down on the desk and sat down, "There was something we found but we threw it out immediately because-"

"What? What is it?" she asked frantically.

Tseng swallowed and straightened his tie, "Well, we found a body down in one of the retention ponds near the school. We thought it might be her, the face was too distorted to identify." he said.

"No, she's not dead. I would have felt it." Minerva said.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this but… until we find otherwise, we're closing the case." he said. Minerva's knees felt weak and she sat down in the chair.

"No, she's not dead, you… you can't just stop looking for her! She's out there somewhere! You have to keep looking." she said desperately. Tears squeezed their way out of her eyes and she covered her face, she couldn't believe he was saying this.

"We're trying to find the person who murdered her; we'll give you a call as soon as we find something." Tseng said.

"You said that before, a-and you didn't tell me anything." she mumbled, "She's not dead…"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Rhapsodos, I really am, and I know it's hard but we'll find her murderer." he said.

"You have no idea how I feel! Your daughter isn't missing… she hasn't been gone for 2 months! Your family hasn't fallen apart! You don't understand!" Minerva screamed.

"We have more in common do you think, I lost someone not too long before Aerith went missing, just a few weeks actually." Tseng said, "She may not be my daughter, but she's been missing for 2 months."

Minerva glared up at him, how dare he compare their situations? It wasn't the same, he didn't understand. She turned around and left the building, getting out as fast as she can and reaching her car. She fumbled through her purse for her keys before she found them. She searched the ring for the key and noticed a small keychain. A plastic heart covered in glitter, the words "I love mommy" was carved into it. She remembered the day Aerith had given it to her.

A sob escaped her lips and she fell to her knees. Aerith's not dead, it wasn't her they found. They couldn't identify the girl so they weren't sure. She told herself several times before she pulled herself together and stood up. She wiped her eyes and unlocked her door. "Excuse me! Hold on a minute." she heard.

Minerva paused and turned towards the voice, it was a man. "I found this, is it yours?" he asked. Minerva stared at the item in his hand, a small pin shaped like a bunny. Aerith had a similar one pinned to her shirt the day she'd gone missing. "Someone kept telling me that it belonged to some girl named Aerith, I'm not sure who that is but they said you knew." he said.

Minerva continued to stare at the bunny, "It's my daughter's… she's been missing for 2 months." she said

"My name is Kadaj, I think I may be able to help you." he said, a smile graced his lips, but Minerva didn't notice. She was too busy thinking, if the police wouldn't help her, she had no choice but to accept this man's help.

"Thank you…" she said quietly.

"No problem." Kadaj widened his smile and gave her his phone number, "Call me when you get the chance."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Bum bum buuuum! Yeah Minerva's working with her daughter's kidnappers now. I'm sorry I haven't updated, I've been busy. I decided to put in a short chapter to let people know what's happening at home before I get back to the real plot, I wanted to include William but I couldn't think of anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or anything related.

Chapter 7

Aerith sat alone tapping her fingers against the bed frame anxiously. Everyone had been ordered to stay in their rooms and she was scared. She knew she didn't need to worry about Tifa or Yuffie, the two girls were right next to her, but someone was getting punished and she couldn't shake the feeling that she would be getting punished too. After all, she'd talked about escaping too. "Aerith, calm down." Tifa tried, but her voice was too weak to be comforting. Aerith stopped the tapping and looked over to Tifa.

"Do you think he'll be coming here?" she asked nervously. Tifa rubbed the bruises on her arm and shook her head.

"You didn't do anything... right?" Tifa asked.

Aerith shrugged, she couldn't remember. There were several times when she hadn't been paid in full, maybe Don thought she was stealing money. There were also times when she couldn't handle anything, when her customers would leave angry, threatening to file a complaint for poor service.

Yuffie lifted her head, "It's one of the little kids." she said, "They stole food from the kitchen."

"How do you know?" Tifa asked.

"I was there... I saw her." she said.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Tifa asked, "You knew Don wouldn't like that." Yuffie shrugged and put her head back down. Aerith's mind wandered to Zack, he was with the kids all the time, maybe he knew the person who was getting punished. "It's over." Tifa stood up shakily and walked over to the door, "Yuffie, you should sleep, work starts in a few hours." Tifa left the room and Yuffie slowly got up.

"Bye Aerith." she mumbled before walking off to her own room. Aerith watched her leave before getting up to close the door.

"Whoa Aerith!" Zack slipped into the room and shut it behind him. "Are you going to bed?" he asked.

"I was going to." she said, although she wasn't sure if she'd actually be able to sleep, "what do you want?"

"Well, there's this boy, his name is Denzel." Zack explained, "Today's his birthday, we got him a cake."

"Really?" Aerith asked, it'd been a long time since she had cake. They weren't allowed to have sweets, Don said it would make them out of shape and there was no money to be made form fat women. "So why are you telling me?"

"I figured you'd want some." Zack said, "I mean chocolate can cheer anyone up." Aerith rolled her eyes, none of her problems could be solved with chocolate, "Come on, it'll be fun."

"You know I'm not allowed to have cake, are you trying to get me in trouble?" she snapped.

Zack shook his head, "Oh no! I wasn't thinking about that, it's just... well you seem like you cold use some chocolate, you and Yuffie." he said.

"I'm sorry Zack, I'd love some but... I don't even thinking could hold it down right now." she said. Zack sighed and left the room. Aerith sat down on her bed and stared down at the floor, she couldn't sleep and she couldn't eat. Her stomach growled and she shut her eyes, what was wrong with her?

She hadn't been able to eat in days and it was staring to affect her. Tifa had tried to get her to eat but she never could, it all made her throw up. She got up and walked over to the door, maybe she did need some cake.

She hurried to the basement and looked around, "Zack?" she whispered.

"Aerith!" Zack walked over, "did you change your mind?"

"Sort of." she said, "I haven't been able to eat much lately..."

"Don't worry, this will help." Zack led her to a group of kids, "Guys this is Aerith."

"Hey, I know you!" a little girl said, "You came here with me, my name's Marlene." Aerith forced a smile onto her face and waved. "I saved all of my money since I got here, and Zack gave me some of his."

"Alright guys come on, let's eat up!" Aerith looked down at the cake as Zack cut it, was this really a good idea? The cake looked nice but... what if Don found out? Zack handed every child in the basement a small piece, "Here you go Aerith." he placed a small piece on her hand, "Eat up." Aerith watched the other kids gobble down their treats, she pushed a small part into her mouth and forced herself to swallow. "Well how is it?" Zack asked.

"It's okay." she said as she ate it. Zack focused on his own piece for a minute before turning back to her.

"You need your rest right?" he said, "You look sleepy." Aerith blinked, if Zack noticed then her customers would too, she needed to sleep or they'd be unhappy and she'd get in trouble.

"Right," she nodded, "Thank you for the cake." she turned and rushed from the basement dropping the last of her cake on the steps. She flew threw the halls and went to her room, when she got there she found Don sitting on her bed. "Oh... I didn't see you there..." she said nervously. What was he doing there? Was she in trouble? "Is there something I can help you with?" she asked.

"There's always something you could help me with." he purred, "But there is another reason I'm here." He stood up, "Please close the door." Aerith did as she was told and waited for him to go on. "I'm returning home for the next few weeks and I'm taking you and a few servants with me." he said, "I want you to prepare your things, we're leaving tomorrow, I'm giving you the day off."

"Yes sir." she said quietly, inside, she was a little relieved she wouldn't have to be with more then one guy for the next few weeks, but then she had to be alone with Don and he was very violent. Corneo left the room and Aerith fell to her knees, how much more of this could she take? She rubbed her temples as a headache began to form, at least she had the day off right? She sighed, she couldn't exactly rationalize the situation, it was horrible. She was going to be alone with Don Corneo for several weeks... There was a knock on the door and she stood up.

"Aerith?" it was Zack. She opened the door and looked him over.

"Don't you have work to do?" she asked.

"No, i've been given the day off." Zack said, "I'm leaving with the Don tomorrow, I just wanted to tell you."

A small smile appeared on her face, "What? Are you happy about me being gone? I didn't know I annoyed you _that_ much." Zack rubbed his head.

"No, it's not that." she said, "It's just that I'm going too."

"Oh man..." Zack said, "At least you'll have some sort of friend there." Aerith nodded and looked down, "Well, I need to go out and get some things alright? Do you need anything?"

"Um..." Aerith played with her uniform, "...condoms..."

"Oh, right... anything _you_ want, you know for yourself?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if he'll let me bring anything, you know how he is." she said, "But... I want to come with you."

"Aerith, you aren't allowed outside... are you?" Zack asked.

"Well, I don't really know. He's only said that if we try to escape we'd be punished." Aerith said, "But I'm not trying to escape, I just want to see what's out there."

"i wouldn't want to get you in trouble." Zack said.

"Please Zack, I can't stay in this room another minute." she pleaded, "I have the day off he won't even notice." She watched Zack as he thought it over, he looked really conflicted. He didn't want her in trouble but he couldn't say no at least she hoped.

"Alright, but only for a little while." Zack said finally, "And bring a coat, it's cold out."

"I don't have a coat, they took it when they..." she paused, "I don't have one."

"What... okay I'll see if I can find one for you." Zack said, "I'll bring it to you later alright stay here and try to get some sleep." Aerith nodded and watched his walk away, she closed the door and got into bed. She felt a little happier, yes happier. Of course that wasn't saying much, she was still miserable here, but maybe going out would help clear her mind.

She yawned and closed her eyes, she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep but, she needed to try. Several minutes later she was still wide awake, but she felt exhausted. Zack returned with a coat for her, "Did you sleep at all?" he asked.

"Yeah." she lied. She got up and took the coat, "Where are we going?"

"Well, I think we should shop first, then we can take a break at a garden I like to go to." he said.

"But you said it was cold, what's the point of a garden?" Aerith asked.

"It looks nice when it's covered in snow." Zack said, "Now hurry up, I want you to get some rest too."

"alright." aerith nodded. She slipped the jacket on and followed him into the hall.

"You didn't have any pants to put on?" he asked as he stared down at her legs. Aerith shook her head, "Well you're going to freeze out there."

"It can't be that cold can it?" she asked, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been outside. Zack said nothing as they exited the building they walked down the long driveway and were stopped by gaurds.

"Who is this? A honeybee?" the guard looked her over, "Oh it's her! I've heard lots of things about you." Aerith stared down at the ground while the guards stared at her, she was used to it by now but she didn't like it.

"We need to get some things we'll be back before 6." Zack said.

"Does Don know you're taking one of his girls for a spin?" the guard asked.

"Yes." Zack lied, "We've been given the day off to prepare for a trip."

"A trip?"

"Yes, we're going with Don to his home." Zack said.

"Oh wow, he's going to destroy you." the guard laughed, "Have fun while you can." Aerith's heart raced as Zack led her away from the two guards.

"Don wouldn't hurt me too bad would he?" she asked. She knew he was capable of it, she'd seen what he'd done to Yuffie and Tifa, not to mention torture her the day she'd gotten there. But she didn't want to go through weeks of that... "Zack?"

"Aerith I'm sorry, he will hurt you. He likes that kind of stuff, I won't be able to stop him either but Angeal might..."

"Who's Angeal?" she murmured.

"A friedn, I'll call him for you." Zack said, "Please don't cry." Aerith bit her lip and sniffeled, how could she not cry? This entire situation was horrible.

"I'm sorry..." she wiped her eyes and continued to stare at the ground.

"Aerith, calm down I promise you won't be alone in this okay? I'll do what I can to help you out." Zack said.

Aerith looked back, they were pretty far into town. "Have you ever thought about escaping?" she asked softly, "you look like you could handle any guy in that place, why don't you leave?"

"There are a lot of reasons for that. Those kids depend on me and well... I have no where to go." he said, "Why?"

"I'm sure you know why." she mumbled, "I can't handle this place, I want to go home."

"look, we're at the store now." Zack pointed to a building, "I want you to try something." Aerith wiped her eyes again and looked at the small shop. It was old, at least it looked old compared to all the other bright buildings around.

"What do they sell here?" she asked.

"You'll see, come on let's get inside." Zack led her into the building, "It's a diner, an American diner."

"Zack... I can't eat." Aerith said, "I couldn't even finish that cake."

"I noticed, I figured it's because you needed something familiar." Zack said. Aerith shook her head.

"I don't think I need anything familiar." she said.

"just try it." Zack sat her down at a booth, "You don't even need to eat alright, we just need to warm you up."

"alright." she rested her elbows on the table and closed her eyes, she could feel people looking at her. "I don't like it here." she mumbled.

"Hey Elsa! How are you?" Zack said, "This is my friend Aerith." Aerith looked over to the woman Zack was talking too.

"Oh she's sooo skinny! I know what will get you fattened up." Elsa said, "A cheese burger will do the trick."

"Actually Elsa, she's been having trouble eating lately, you have anything light?" Zack asked, "like soup?"

"soup? Yes, we have chicken noodle soup and minestrone, which one would you like?" Elsa asked.

"Um... chicken..." she said quietly.

"Alright, how about you Zack?" Elsa asked.

"Um the usual." Zack said. Elsa scribbled some things down and walked off. "You know there's a japanese place around here too."

"Do you have enough money for all this?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be over $20." Zack said, "I think you should let yourself go, I mean one burger won't change a thing."

"But he'll notice..." Aerith said, "I can't let myself go like you Zack."

"I know... it's just hard to see you so upset." Zack said, "I thought about taking Yuffie too, she looks like she needs a break."

"What about Tifa?" Aerith asked.

A large smile grew on Zacks face, "Oh Tifa, she's covered." he said, "Cloud has a crush on her and right now, Tifa's exploiting it as much as possible. But I think she likes him too."

"Cloud? You mean the blonde boy who cleans the rooms?" Aerith asked, a small smile appeared on her face as well, "He's so adorable."

"Adorable? I've never heard you talk like that." Zack said.

aerith's smile grew, she had no idea why she was smiling, she just knew it felt nice, "I guess they'd make a cute couple." she said. Elsa came back with their food.

"You're looking better already." she said, "Here you go, will you guys be ordering desert?"

"Yes." Zack said. He picked up his burger and took a bite, "You sure you don't want one?"

"No Zack, I can't." she said. She picked up her spoon and tasted her soup, it was nice and warm, "My mom used to make soup." she said, "I used to help her all the time."

"Really?" Zack asked, "That's cool, my mom did too."

"Do you miss your mom?" she asked, "it's been five years right?"

"Yeah, I send her a postcard or something every now and then... I don't even know if she realizes it's me sending those things... I don't even know if she still lives in that house anymore." Zack took another bite of his food, "Now we'll need to stop at another store before the garden alright, some of these men are perverts so stay close."

"Zack, you don't need to tell me about these men, I deal with them everyday." she said.

"Right sorry." he said.

"No it's fine." Aerith ate a little more of her soup, "How can you be so happy all the time?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"whenever I see you, you're smiling and you always try to cheer me up." she said, "How do you do it?"

Zack shrugged, "I don't know." he said, he finished his burger and looked at her, "You're talking a little more then usual, maybe you did need to come outside."

"Yeah, maybe." she agreed, a yawn escaped her lips and she hurried to finish her soup, "we better hurry." She was feeling even sleepier then before.

"Alright then, no dessert." Zack said, "Maybe we should get you home, you need sleep."

"No, I don't want to go back." she said sleepily, "Let's hurry and see the garden." Zack paid the bills and led her out into the cold again. That seemed to wake her up a little, "How far is it?" she asked.

"Pretty far, you won't make it." Zack said, "Not in this weather."

"No, let's go." Aerith said, "Please?"

"Alright." Zack agreed.

o.0.o.0.o

Sorry I took so long, I was busy. The next chapter will be out soon. Review


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or anything related.

Chapter 8

Aerith sat in the same car as Don Corneo, he had his arm around her waste and occasionally forced a kiss on her. "You're a lot more delicate than the others." he said, "I'll have to go easy on you." Aerith remained quiet and let him talk, there was nothing she could do, once they got there, he'd be taking a nap and she'd have a moment of alone time. Don lived in Italy, in a house far from civilization, they were staying there for 7 weeks and he had business to take care of as well. According to him, she'd get a lot of free time, he'd be back nights to "have fun" with her.

Aerith couldn't be more relieved, in fact, she was happy about this. If she could escape while he was gone, she'd be free. Then she could go home and everything would be alright. She could see her parents her friends even Genesis. "Maybe I could skip the nap when we get home." he smelled her hair, "I see you've used strawberry shampoo."

But she couldn't leave, what about Yuffie and Tifa? They deserved to get home just as much as she did. But how could she get to them? This would be her only chance for a while, if she didn't go now, she might never go. Maybe when she got to America, she'd tell the police and they'd free everyone. "What are you thinking of?" Don asked.

"Just you." she said sweetly. It disgusted her to have to talk like that, especially to a man who was 30 years older than her.

"Of course, I'm on everyone's mind." he said. He kissed her again, "I'm glad you aren't trying to escape like your friends. I think I'll have to sell the little one, she's causing too much trouble."

"Yuffie?" Aerith said quietly, "you can't..."

"There's no need for her, she doesn't bring in as much money as you do." Don said.

"No please..." she whispered, "You can't do that."

"You don't have to worry about her, you have me." Don ran a finger down her cheek. Aerith sucked in a breath.

"But she's my friend..." she said

"I'll have a nice dinner made for us when we arrive." Don changed the subject, "But I don't think you should eat much, we want you to stay slim."

"I don't think you need to worry about that, I barely eat anyway." she said.

"And according to angry clients, you don't sleep either." Don said, "Tell me what's wrong, why are you so restless?" What's wrong? How could he ask such a stupid question, was she supposed to be happy living in a whorehouse?

"I just want to see my family again." she mumbled.

"Oh of course, you need to let them go. You don't need family in this business and I'm sure they've forgotten about you already." Don said, "Oh! We're here." Aerith looked out of the window at the large house they were driving up to, she could already see the servants getting out of their cars and going inside. She saw Zack glance back at her as he stepped inside, "What do you think?" Don asked.

"It looks nice." she lied.

"I would hope so, I designed it myself." he said. Aerith sat back against the seat and waited, "Where did you get those clothes?" Don asked, "I don't remember you having pants."

"Uh, I went out yesterday and got some." she said, "Zack told me it would be cold so I got some."

"You went out? And came back? I knew I could trust you!" Don placed a hand on her thigh, "A lot of people would try to escape, but you didn't! But I'm not too happy that you went out without my permission."

"I'm sorry..." Aerith said.

"Don't worry you can make up for it tonight." someone opened the door for don and he stepped out, "Come, I want to have some fun before dinner." Aerith swallowed and got out of the car, he took her hand and led her to the mansion, "It's been a while since we've last been together." he commented, "I'm sure you missed me."

"Of course." she said. She looked around the mansion, everything was red and purple, everything was so flashy. It reminded her of the Honeybee. Don took her up the stairs to his room and closed the door. Aerith noticed this room looked exactly like his room back at the Honeybee.

Don pushed her down on the bed and pulled down her pants, "Come on now, I'm not doing everything here, I want you to have fun too."

Aerith let him strip her down before getting up, "I'm not sure what to do." she said. In reality, she knew exactly what he wanted, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted it to be over with, so she could sleep or something.

"You've been with us for over a month, you should know how to please me." Don said, "But we don't have time for this." he pushed her back onto the bed, "Tomorrow I'll be gone all day, I want you to practice with a servant or something, you need to perfect this, maybe people would pay full price if you weren't so inexperienced." She felt his nails digging into her shoulders, she could tell he was getting angry.

"I'm sorry I-"

"You can't say sorry for everything, you need punishment." Don said, he got on top of her and rubbed her back, "I didn't bring any of my tools so you'll have to wait." she felt him moving around and struggling to get his pants off. He was a heavy man and he had all of his weight on her. Her back began to ache and she couldn't breathe.

"I can't-" she gasped as he lifted himself up.

"These pants are so tight." he continued to struggle with his pants, "Damn it! Come here, get these off of me." Aerith wasn't sure how much she could do, if he couldn't get them off, neither could she. She got out of bed and struggled with his pants, how did he even get them on? "Come on, we're running out of time, I only have a few hours!" he rushed.

"They're stuck." Aerith said, "You'll have to cut them off or something."

"These pants are rare! I can't cut them." he sighed and pushed her away, "Get out of my sight, you'll sleep in the basement with the servants. Go!" Aerith stood up and hurried back into her clothes. She didn't look back as she ran out of the room. She could hear him shouting to himself as he tried with the pants. She sighed in relief as she hurried down into the basement.

"Zack?" she called.

"Zack's not here." Someone said, "He went to cook dinner." Aerith sat down on a bed and looked around. It was dark and musty in the basement and there were only three beds. From what she could see, there were 10 children.

"How many of you did he bring?" she asked.

"13." Aerith gasped, how were they all going to sleep? She looked around the floor, many kids were already curled up under thin blankets. "why aren't you in Don's room? I thought that's where you were supposed to sleep."

"I kind of got in trouble, he told me to leave." she said, she felt weird talking about it with this person. The kid looked about 9 years old and she could tell he had more questions.

"So you'll have to sleep with Zack probably." he said.

Aerith opened her mouth to speak when she heard her name, "I need to go." she stood up and left the room, she could see Don waiting for her at the top of the steps.

"I'm leaving to get a few girls, I want you in my room when I get back." Don said, "I'm sorry we won't be able to have dinner together, but I'll have one of the servants cook you something." Aerith nodded and followed him to the door. She was confused, his mood was changing really fast. One minute he'd be happy and then he'd be angry. "Goodbye my Honeybee." he kissed her and left the mansion. Aerith stared out of the window to make sure he left before rushing off to find Zack.

She found him in the kitchen alone, he was cleaning up something he'd spilled, "Zack?" he stood up and walked over to her.

"You're okay?" he looked her over, "He didn't touch you?" Aerith shook her head.

"He couldn't get his pants off." she said, "But he's mad that I went outside."

"Oh man, I'm so sorry! I knew you would get in trouble, I shouldn't have taken you out." he looked away, "Where's Don?"

"He left." Aerith told him, "Why?"

"I need to call someone." Zack looked around, "He'd know if I used his house phone... Aerith watch and make sure no one comes through that door."

"Why what are you going to do?" she asked, "You can't use his phone, you'll be in so much trouble when he finds out..."

"This will help us both alright, and even if I do get caught, I can handle him." Zack walked towards a phone hanging on the wall and Aerith peeked out of the door. She could hear small parts of the conversation but not enough to understand. "Really?...There's 2... girl... Italy...just her..."

She struggled to keep herself from turning and listening completely, but she knew it was none of her business, even if he was talking about her. "alright, thanks, I'll see you then." Zack hung up the phone and walked over to her, "I can get you and Yuffie out of this."

"But what about Tifa?" Aerith asked.

"Cloud's got her taken care of, don't worry." Zack said, "You'll have to wait a while, until we get back to Germany. My friend will come and help you to an airport."

"But that's weeks from now..." she knew she shouldn't be complaining, he'd done the best he could to get them out of there, but she didn't want to stay in this place anymore. "What about you?"

"I need to stay here." he said.

"Why?" she asked, "you could go home and see your family!" why would he want to stay? If he had the chance to leave, he should take it right? "Your mother would want to see you right?"

"Maybe." he mumbled, "She's forgotten about me by now, I wasn't her favorite."

"Don't say that, it doesn't matter if you were her favorite or not." Aerith said.

"How would you know?"

"well, my mom and my step brother don't get along to well, they fight all the time. It's obvious she likes me more than him. But even then, when he stays out past midnight, she's always worrying her head off about him. She may not act like it, but she cares about him." Aerith said, "That's why I think your mom wouldn't have just forgotten you."

"Yeah, but what if... I guess your right..." Zack turned away and walked over to the puddle on the floor, "You should go, I have to clean this up."

"Can I help?" she asked quietly, "It'll take my mind off things."

Zack looked up at her, "Sure." he held out the sponge and pushed the bucket towards her, "I'll finish your dinner."

"Alright." Aerith took the sponge and began to wipe at the floor. The liquid on the floor smelled funny, "What is this stuff?" she asked.

"well, I was trying to make soup, it didn't turn out to well." Zack explained, "What do you want to eat?"

"Huh?"

"what do you want to eat? I making the kids mostacciolli, do you want anything different?" he asked.

"No thanks." Aerith said. She continued to scrub and Zack continued to talk. She found it strange that he was okay with talking about his home memories without breaking down, maybe because he'd been there longer. "where did you live before this?" she asked.

"Traverse city, that's in Michigan. It was a small town but it got a lot of old tourists." Zack said, "Where were you from?"

"Minooka." Aerith said.

"What?"

"Minooka, it's in Illinois." Aerith said.

"Never heard of it." Zack commented.

"Really, it's near Joliet. It was a small town really." she said, "I'm done." she stood up and looked down at the floor, "It's still wet."

"It'll dry itself, just be careful now okay?" Zack continued to cook and Aerith took a small island in the middle of the kitchen. She rested her chin on her hand and closed her eyes, she'd sleep and then wake up when Zack finished cooking. "Hey you know, I think I will try for home... if it doesn't work out, well I'll stay with Angeal and help these girls out some more." Zack said.

"It will work Zack, just wait." Aerith said.

"It's done! I'll get the kids, let's eat!" Zack said, "Put the food on plates for me alright." he left the room and Aerith got up, she looked around the kitchen and found them. She set them up around the island and took the pot over. She placed the food on the trays, there were fourteen total, she made sure it was all equal and finished just as Zack came back. "You move fast." he commented. The kids crowded the island and began to eat.

Aerith ate her food slowly as she watched them all. They must have really been hungry. The ate it quickly and filed off to the basement again. "Why did they leave so quick?" she asked.

"They're afraid to be out in the open, especially around Honeybee's." he said, "A lot of the Honeybee's like to get them in trouble."

"what?"

"There are a few girls who've been there for more than 8 years, they've got this strange sense of entitlement." Zack explained, "A lot of times they make up lies, They're sadists or something. They love it when the kids get punished."

"So I guess that's why they were so uncomfortable when I went down there?" she said. She finished her food and set her fork down, "Don told me I'm supposed to sleep down there with you guys."

"It'll be fine, they warm up to people pretty easily, they're eager to trust people." Zack said, "Some of them at least." He stood up and began to take the dishes to the sink, "You hear that? Someones here, it's probably on."

"But he said he wouldn't be back until later." Aerith said, "It can't be him."

"It doesn't matter, just get out of here." Zack said, "I'll see you later." Aerith stood up slowly and left the kitchen. She could see Don putting his coat on a hook near the door. She bit her lip and stepped forward.

"ah, I was just about to come and get you." he said.

"I thought you were getting more girls." she said.

"That was the plan, but it was a trap. Stupid American officers were here, they took every girl back to the states." he muttered something else, "But it's fine, I didn't pay for the girls anyway." He started for the stairs, "Well now, let's go." he said. Aerith followed him, glancing back at the kitchen once more. She was hoping Zack would do something to stop this, but that wouldn't happen and it was stupid for her to even think about it. "I found a way to get out of these pants." he said, "I found this." Don held up a bag and shook it up, "It's a whip, we can go ahead with your punishment."

Aerith closed her eyes as they entered the room. She wasn't ready for what was about to happen, but nowadays, she never was.

o.0.o.0.o

Zack finished cleaning the basement and washing all the sheets. Don Corneo's house had been a mess before they'd gotten there and they'd been forced to stay up all night cleaning. It was obvious that this was where he came to get a lot of his workers. A lot of the rooms were filled with cages and blood and he had to clean it all up. It made him sick just being in the room, he could literally feel the despair of Don's past victims. He refused to let the kids clean up those room's, he could barely handle it so he refused to let them see it.

After he'd finished he'd gone back to the basement and made sure they were all comfortable. They'd insisted on leaving a bed for he and Aerith so he made sure the kids on the floor were comfortable. He sat down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, when he was cleaning, he'd heard Aerith screaming. It made him shudder just to think about it. She was in pain and she was begging for help yet Don kept doing whatever he was doing.

He wanted to run in and stop him but... that would end bad for Aerith, he couldn't be there to help him all the time so when he wasn't around, Don would hurt her even more. He sighed and tried to sleep, he figured it would be a while before Aerith came down for bed. It didn't sound like Don would be letting up anytime soon. But just as he thought that, the door opened. Someone fell down the stairs and he got up. "Aerith?" He ran up the stairs and closed the door. He went back down and helped Aerith too her feet. "Aerith, can you talk?" he helped her to the bed and set her down. She collapsed onto the pillow and whimpered. "Aerith? What did he do to you?" He rearranged her and got into bed next to her. He pulled the blanket over her and closed his eyes, there was nothing he could do for her. Not now at least...

He heard her sniffled and sighed, "Zack... don't worry I'll be alright." she said quietly, "It just hurts."

"Alright." he mumbled. He turned towards her and noticed her back, "He whipped you?" he asked angrily.

"It's fine Zack, I should have asked before I went out, I deserved it." she said quietly.

"Aerith, you can't really believe that." he said. Aerith sniffled and stayed quiet, Zack sighed and sat up, "Tell me you don't believe that."

"Zack

"No, tell me." he ordered, "You can't think like that."

"Why not?" she asked, "I'm never getting out of here so I might as well learn to give in now."

"We talked Aerith..." he said quietly, "What did he tell you?" Aerith didn't answer and Zack let himself fall down onto the pillow. He closed his eyes again and tried to sleep. But he couldn't, Aerith had been fine before she went in, as fine as he could make her at least. Now her hopes were gone, he would get her out, he'd promised. He's talk to her in the morning when Don left again, but until then, he needed to sleep. He yawned and drifted off after a few minutes.

"_Mommy! Zack threw a rock at my sandcastle!" she screamed. She was his little sister Katherine Fair, otherwise known as Katy. Zack stood over the weeping girl and smiled at what he'd just done. She'd gotten exactly what she deserved._

"_Zack... why would you do that?" his mom looked at him and shook her head, "I don't understand why you do these types of things." Zack rolled his eyes, how could she not know? It's like she never saw anything Katy did._

"_Because she stole my soda and put seaweed in it." Zack crossed his arms, "I wanted to drink it too."_

"_She didn't know what she was doing Zack she's only 5." his mom said, "Now go over there and help her rebuild it."_

"_I don't want to." Zack mumbled, "It's not fair."_

"_Zack, don't make me get your father." His mother threatened. Zack pouted and turned away, why did his sister get away with everything? She could set their house on fire and his mom wouldn't do a thing. He stomped over to the sand castle and started to rebuild it._

"_You're doing it wrong!" his sister shouted._

"_Shut up Katy, you're lucky I'm even helping." he said, "This is your fault anyway." _

"_No it's not." Katy retorted, "I only put the seaweed in your soda because you wouldn't give me any." Katy kicked at the sandcastle, "Go away!" She kicked some sand in his eyes and he stood up._

"_You're stupid!" he kicked sand in her face, "That's what you get."_

"_Zack!" his mom stood up and grabbed his arm, "I've told you time and time again, she's only 5!"_

"_She kicked sand in my eyes, she knew what she was doing!" he pulled away, "How come you always take her side?"_

"_We'll talk later, go back to the hotel room. Now." his mom pointed at the hotel they were staying in. Zack rolled his eyes and walked away. This was so unfair! He entered the hotel lobby and stomped to their room. He sat down near the door and started to wipe the sand from his feet._

"_Stupid Katy." he mumbled. The door opened and someone walked in._

"_I saw what happened, you seem pretty upset." Zack turned around and looked at the man, it wasn't anyone he knew, maybe it was house keeping._

"_Who are you? You can't just come in here whenever you want." he said._

"_I just wanted to help," the man said, "My name is Ray, I saw what your mom did."_

"_So?"_

"_Well, I have an idea." Ray closed the door, "We'll drive down the street to the McDonald's and get a bite, but we'll stay a real long time so your mom thinks you ran away. When you get back, she'll be so happy and she'll apologize and everything!"_

"_Yeah..." Zack nodded, "That sounds right."_

"_I know, I used to do it all the time, Go get dressed." Ray said. Zack nodded and ran to change his clothes. His mom would be so scared! He threw on some clothes and shoved his feet into his sneakers._

"_I'm ready!" he went with Zack and got into the man's car, "My mom's always listening to Katy, because she's younger than me."_

"_How old are you?" Ray asked._

"_I just turned 10." Zack said, "My parents took me here for my birthday."_

"_Really?" Ray asked. Zack noticed the man speeding up._

"_Hey, you passed McDonald's..." he pointed out. Ray was silent as he they drove through town, "Hey, where are we going?"_

"_Didn't your mom tell you never to get in the car with strangers?" Ray asked._

"_Well yeah but..." Zack's eyes widened as he realized what just happened, "When can I go home?" he asked._

"_That's not my decision." Ray said, "But this is all your fault really, you shouldn't have been so eager to make your mom worry."_

"_I just..." Zack looked out of the window, maybe he could open the door and roll out, like in the movies. He put his hand on the handle and the door locked. The lock was the kind that seemed to fall into a hole when you locked it. He couldn't get a hold of it no matter how hard he tried. why would they make locks like that? They were setting kids up to be kidnapped. Zack hit the door angrily._

"_Let me out!" he screamed, "I don't want to go with you!" Ray was silent as Zack threw a tantrum in the back seat. He screamed and kicked and then curled up and cried. Ray wasn't going to let him out, he was being kidnapped and it was all his fault..._

Zack woke up earlier then the rest of the kids. He sat up and looked at Aerith, it was still dark but he could see the welts on her back. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, he hadn't had that dream in a while. Maybe it was the thought of going home that brought it back.

He stood up and quietly walked out of the basement. He'd need to make Don breakfast soon. He made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge, he'd seen the day before that Don barely had any food but now he was really seeing it. There was nothing he could use to make breakfast. He decided to go tell Corneo about the problem, he left the kitchen and walked up to Corneo's room.

He knocked on the door and waited, he heard moving around before the door opened, "What is it?" Don asked on annoyance.

"I wanted to tell you there's nothing for me to use to make breakfast." he said. He fought to keep his face straight. He didn't want to show any emotion in front of this man. Deep inside he was angry for what the man had done to Aerith. But he refused to let it show.

"Then go shopping? And take Aerith with you, she's disgustingly pale." Don said, "Later on we'll do something, now get out of my sight."

"Uh, sir... I don't have any money." Zack said.

"Of course you don't..." Don muttered The man dug through his pockets and pulled out his wallet. He handed Zack a stack of bills and slammed the door in his face. Zack turned away and walked back to the basement. He shook Aerith awake and looked around for their coats.

"Don wants you to come shopping with me." Zack said. Aerith said nothing as she slowly lifted and tried to stand, "Maybe you shouldn't come... you don't look to good." Zack commented.

"Aerith shook her head, "I have to go... I'll get in trouble if I disobey him." she mumbled. Zack helped her into the coat and led her out of the basement.

"You can barely stand." Zack said.

"Well you try having a dick forced up your ass all night! Let's see how well you can walk after that." she snapped.

"I'm sorry Aerith, I didn't know." He said. Aerith glared down at the ground and Zack sighed. He never knew what to say around her, he wanted her to be happy although he knew that was almost impossible, he wanted to try. It seemed like two days ago she'd just gotten used to his company. They'd had so much fun out in the garden, but now... now he had her on the verge of tears. Sure he was only concerned for her, but he should have worded it differently.

They left the mansion and walked down the driveway, "Are we supposed to walk?" Aerith asked, "We're really far from town."

"Well, I don't know how to drive... so yeah." Zack said, "Or we could call a taxi, but he didn't give me too much money." Aerith sighed and kept walking, Zack could tell she really needed to sit down. She looked horrible, but he wasn't going to tell her that, she'd just get even more upset. "Aerith, about last night..." he started, "Did you really mean all of that?"

"All of what?" she asked.

"what you said about giving in." Zack reminded, "You can't really believe that right?"

"And if I do?" Aerith asked.

"Well then you're stupid." Zack said.

"Excuse me? You have no right to call me stupid! You have no idea what my life is like right now. If you were me, you'd give up too." Aerith pulled her hand away from him and walked forward.

"Aerith, I promised I'd get you out of here didn't I?" he caught up, "Listen here, we're meeting Angeal at a cafe called Feliciano's alright, he'll go through the plan once more. You'll have to stay with him while I get the groceries, I'll come back to get you when I'm done."

"I'm not staying with him by myself." Aerith said.

"He's not going to hurt you..." Zack said, "He's only a few years older then me, he can help you I promise."

"No." she said firmly, "i don't trust him." Zack sighed and looked forward how was this going to work?

"look, you'll never escape this if you don't sit down with him." Zack said, he looked back at the mansion, "This is risky and this may be our only chance to get away, don't you want to see your family?"

"Zack, you know I do." she said softly, "It's just... I don't want you to get in trouble for this... If you get caught, he'll whip you like he did with me, except it'll be even worse."

"Calm down, he wouldn't dare." Zack said, he was more then sure he could handle the man on his own. Don was short and fat and Zack was tall and muscular, he couldn't lose. One of the reason's he hadn't beat the man before was because he had guards. But this time he didn't bring any guards, so they had a chance of escape. But then there was Yuffie, they had to get her from Germany and the only way to do that was to go back there. "I can handle him."

"Yeah but, what if he doesn't punish you? What if he hurts those kids instead?" She asked.

"Stop asking about that! You just do what you have to do until I say it's time." Zack took her hand again and sped up, "You won't have to worry soon."

"But Zack, this isn't fair." Aerith said, "Those kids have been here longer than me, shouldn't they get out first?" Zack slowed down again, this did seem a little unfair... Maybe he could just get Yuffie home and another kid, he could give his ticket to Marlene or Denzel. But if he did that, he didn't know when he'd next be able to get more tickets...

"Aerith, if I send some kids home... You might not be able to go home another year." he said, "Are you sure that's what you want?" Aerith was quiet and Zack sighed, "You're going home." he decided, "I don't care if it's unfair, you won't be thinking like that once you get out of here.

"I know." Aerith said, "But what about everybody else?" she asked.

"When we get home, we'll tell the police what happened to you. They'll send police to the Honeybee and shut it down." Zack said, "It'll be fine."

o.0.o.0.o

Aerith sat across from Angeal and toyed with the sleeve of her coat. What if someone saw her here? She'd be in so much trouble. Angeal placed a small slice of cheesecake in front of her but she couldn't bring herself to eat it, she was too nervous.

"Alright, you have to keep this to yourself alright?" Angeal said, "I'm going to pretend to be a house-cleaner, I'm going to go to Corneo's mansion and offer to clean. He might say no considering the fact that he already has servants there."

"Then what?"

"If he says no... well I'll find another way. I'll get a job there somehow and get a ride back to Germany with you guys. I have the tickets already and all we'll have to do is get you to an airport." Angeal said, "There'll be a lot more to it but that's it for now."

"But he has a lot of guards out there... they'll chase us down like they do with anyone else who tries to escape." Aerith said, "It won't work, we'll get caught."

"I've gone through this plan several times. I know what I'm doing." Angeal glanced out of the window, "Here comes Zack, he wasn't gone too long now was he?" Aerith looked up and saw him coming towards the building. Relief flooded her heart and she turned away, "Do you like him?" Angeal asked.

"What?" Aerith looked at him, "Why would you ask that?"

"Because I saw the way your face changed when you saw him." Angeal said, "You looked happier."

"Happy?" That wasn't a word she'd use to describe anything happening to her, least of all her facial expressions. Zack entered the shop and sat down.

"Are you done 'Geal?" he asked.

"Yes." he took a bite of the cheesecake in front of him, "You better go."

"Right." Zack rubbed his hands together, "Right after Aerith finishes her cheesecake."

"Huh? No Zack, I'm not hungry."

"You have to be, you barely ate last night." Zack said, "And it'll be a while until breakfast is ready." Aerith hesitated, "Come on, it's cheesecake! When's the last time you had cheesecake?"

Aerith glared at him and picked up her fork, "Alright." she mumbled. She felt a little uncomfortable suddenly, why did they have to be watching her eat? She put some in her mouth and forced it down. "I'm really not hungry Zack." she said.

"Well you don't-" before he could finish the sentence, Aerith threw up all over the table. She closed her eyes and covered her mouth.

"I'm so sorry..." she said.

"No it's fine, I shouldn't have made you eat it." Zack said. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Come on, calm down." Aerith took a breath and opened her eyes, she should have held it in...

"I'm sorry Angeal, I didn't mean to." she said. A waitress walked over and looked at the mess.

"Oh my, we'll have someone clean this up immediately." she said. Aerith looked around and noticed everyone's eyes on her. She felt hot suddenly, what was wrong with her? She leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes.

"Zack, I don't feel so good..." she said. She felt something rising in her throat and she covered her mouth again. She couldn't throw up again, everyone was watching now. But she couldn't hold it in, it forced itself out of her mouth and through her fingers.

"Oh my god, it's blood." Angeal stood up, "We need to get her to a hospital." Aerith shook her head frantically.

"No! You can't I need to go!" She stood up and ran out of the cafe. She wiped her hands on her coat and kept running, she didn't know where she was going but she had to get away. She had to get back to the mansion or she'd get punished again. She wasn't even supposed to be in that cafe and if Don found out...

"Aerith!" Zack shouted, "Hold on!" She turned and saw Zack chasing after her. He had a few bags in his hands and she knew they were slowing him down. She slowed down to a stop and coughed, she could barely stand. She leaned against a wall and took a deep breath. Zack caught up and Aerith followed soon after. "Aerith we're taking you to the hospital." Zack said.

"No... I'll get in trouble he'll find out..." Aerith said, "Please we just need to get back to the mansion..."

"No way! It's his fault you're like this!" Zack said, "We can't let you go back there!"

"But..." she closed her eyes and felt herself falling. Someone caught her and picked her up, "Please, take me back I don't want to get in trouble..."

o.0.o.0.o

She woke up in bed, she felt hot and she could hear voices around her. "i assume this is your wife?" it was Angeal's voice, "She's very sick, she'll need a lot of bed rest."

"What is it? What does she have?" Don asked.

"She has Pneumonia, and I'll have to stay here to keep an eye on her." Angeal said.

"How did she get Pneumonia?" Don asked angrily.

"A lot of times it's because people are out in the cold for too long. But I believe her case came from an infection. There are several open scars on her back that were not cleaned properly." Angeal said.

"What are you talking about, there's no scars on her back." Don said. Was he trying to play innocent? He knew all about those scars he'd given them to her. "I bet it was one of those servant boys, they're all very jealous of her been around her." Don said, "He must've done it last night when I was out."

"No..." Aerith mumbled.

"Aerith sweetheart? You really scared me.' Don walked over and rubbed her cheek, "This is Dr. Hewley, he's going to take care of you alright?" he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Don't tell him anything you whore." He stood up straight and combed his fingers through her hair, "I need to leave, I'll have Zack give you a bath later. And Dr. Hewley, you may stay in this room, follow me." Aerith heard them leave the room and she opened her eyes. She was unsure if they'd taken her to the hospital or not but she hoped they didn't. She still felt really hot, but at least while Angeal was around, Don wouldn't hurt her. At least she hoped he wouldn't...

Someone entered the room but she didn't even attempt to see who. She was too tired to move. "Aerith, are you awake?"

"Yes." she said quietly, "What happened Zack?"

"After you ran out of the cafe?" Zack asked, "Or after you passed out?"

"After I passed out." Aerith answered.

"well, don't get mad but we took you to the hospital." Zack said, "When we found out you had Pneumonia we got your medicine and took you back here as soon as possible. Angeal's pretending to be a doctor so you'll be fine alright."

Aerith groaned and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry for running out like that." she said, "And for ruining the cheesecake."

"It's not your fault, don't even worry about it." Zack said, "Don just left so do you want me to make you some food?"

"No... I can't eat Zack." she reminded.

"Oh right, but you have to try." Zack said. Angeal came back into the room and sat down beside her.

"Zack, you should've told me about those scars." Angeal said.

"I wasn't thinking." Zack said, "Can you help me get her into the tub?"

"No! I can do it myself." she said.

"Don't start that Aerith, you're in no condition to move by yourself." Zack said. Aerith buried her face in her pillow, she didn't want to move yet. "Stop being so difficult." Zack touched her arms and she pulled away.

"I'm tired." she said, "Can it wait?" She heard them both sigh but she didn't care. She knew it was better to just do whatever he said but she couldn't. If he wasn't going to make her, she wasn't going to do it. At the moment, she was free, and they couldn't make her do a thing.

"We need to clean up those scars and bandage them up, you'll keep getting worse if you don't." Angeal said. Aerith pushed herself up and held her head, she felt light-headed. She wished her mom was there to help her, she wouldn't have had to get up at all.

"What do I have?" she asked.

"You have Pneumonia and an infection from the scars. That's why we need to clean them, so they don't get worse." Angeal explained. Zack moved to help her up and she cooperated a little. It wasn't on purpose, she just felt so weak. Her muscles ached and she could barely stand.

"'Geal, she can barely stand." Zack said as he led her down the hall.

"Well keep holding on." Angeal said, "Just don't let her fall."

"I'm not going to fall." Aerith said as they reached the bathroom. Zack pulled her shirt up and she smacked his hand away, "I can clean myself." she snapped. Zack nodded and left the bathroom Angeal stood there for a minute.

"He's only trying to help you." he said. Aerith looked away, she felt guilty already for the way she'd treated him when they were walking to the store that morning. She knew he was only trying to help but... she didn't need anybody touching her and that's all he seemed to be doing. He seemed to forget the situation she was in. She was violated all day by strangers and she had the right to tell him no didn't she? "You need to start being nicer to him." Angeal said, "He's doing a lot for you." Angeal left the bathroom and Aerith slammed the door after him. He had no right to tell her that! He had no idea how hard it was for her to be friends with him. She sat down on the floor and pulled her knees to her chest, she felt so sleepy.

She closed her eyes and began to drift off, she was sure she'd awake with more then enough time to clean herself up. She closed her eyes and the next time she opened them she was in Zack's arms. "Zack?" she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Putting you to bed." he answered, "You fell asleep and I had to clean you myself. I'll start cooking some soup for you."

"Zack..." she started, "I'm sorry for being so mean to you."

"It's fine, I understand. Really, I should've realized sooner why you were being so difficult. I forget sometimes." Zack admitted, "So I'm sorry too."

"No, I'm really comfortable around you Zack." she said without thinking, "I feel... like you're the only one I ca trust. Besides Yuffie and Tifa that is. You're the only guy I trust." she closed her eyes, "It's just hard..."

"You don't need to explain yourself." Zack pushed the door to the room open with his foot and went in. "Now we'll take your medicine with the soup."

"Is it a pill?" she asked.

"Yes, and there's a hot for the infection." Zack said, "Don't worry it won't hurt at all." Zack set her down on the bed and turned to leave, "You get some rest."

Aerith nodded and curled up on the pillow it would only be a few more minutes until dinner so until then, she could sleep.

o.0.o.0.o

Zack balanced the bowl of soup on a tray and slowly entered the room, "Alright Aerith I-" she was asleep again. Zack set the tray down, she always fell asleep when he left the room. He walked over to the bed and shook her awake, "I have the medicine over there." Aerith rolled over and yawned, she still looked really tired. "Once you eat, you can go to bed again." he went and got her food and sat down next to her, "Come on, sit up."

Aerith sat up and opened her eyes, "Can't it wait? I'm not even hungry." she mumbled. Zack thought it over. He didn't want her to throw up again, but if she didn't eat, she'd never get any better.

"Just a little bit Aerith, if you feel like throwing up, just tell me." he picked up the bowl and held it close, "You want me to feed you?"

Aerith glared at him and he laughed, "Calm down, I was kidding." he gave her the bowl and waited, "I'm thinking we should take the medicine before you eat."

"I hate medicine." Aerith said, "It always tastes funny."

"Well, we're taking it now, I can only give you the pill, Angeal has the needle." Zack reached for the medicine when the door opened.

"Zack, you're still in here? Shouldn't you be cleaning something?"

"No sir, we cleaned the house yesterday, and since you haven't been here or had any guests, it's still clean." Zack said. Don Corneo walked into the room and walked over to Aerith.

"She's still sick?" he asked, "This is inconvenient. Is she still contagious?"

"No, she's past that stage." Zack said.

"Perfect! Take off your clothes." Don ordered.

"what?" Zack looked the man over, "Why?"

"Don't question me Zack, just do as I say." Don snapped his fingers and Zack stood up.

"I'm not doing it until you tell me why." he crossed his arms and locked eyes with Don. He had no idea what the man was planning but he knew it would be bad.

"Zack, you're going to get in trouble." Aerith said quietly.

"Do it." Don ordered again. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun, "I want you to have sex with Aerith."

"No!" he shouted, "I can't do that to her."

"She needs the practice." Don said, "Come on." Don pointed the gun at Aerith and watched Zack carefully, "Well, I'd hurry if I were you."

Zack bit his lip, there was no way he could do that to her. She'd just said she trusted him, he couldn't do this, it wasn't right. "Aerith... I'm so sorry."

"Zack, just do it..." she said, "You have to." Zack closed his eyes and let out a breath. He pulled down his pants and took off his shirt. How could she agree to this? Did she want it? He pushed the thought to the back of his head, she didn't want it... no she was just really scared. Don was pointing a gun at her, she didn't want to die.

"I'm sorry." he opened his eyes and walked looked down at her.

"Aerith, you know the drill, pleasure him. I need to see exactly what you're doing wrong." Don ordered.

"She's sick. She can barely stand, I don't think this is the right time." Zack tried. Don ignored him and stared at Aerith.

"Hurry now, I'll have to leave again soon." Aerith slowly stripped out of her clothes and crawled out of bed. Zack looked away, he couldn't watch this. He felt her hands on him and he tensed up, how long would this take. Aerith rubbed his sides a little before slowly moving her hands lower down his body. Zack closed his eyes and let her work, he could feel himself hardening at her touch and suddenly he felt ashamed. How could he be turned on by this? He felt her grab hold of him and he moaned. What was she going to do... his question was answered as he felt her lips on his penis. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed with a pained expression on her face. He looked over to Don and narrowed his eyes, the man was enjoying this.

He tried to hold any noises in while Aerith sucked his dick, he didn't want her to know that deep down inside, he was enjoying it. At least his body was enjoying it. "Alright, no problem there." Don said, "Get in the bed."

Aerith pulled away and climbed into the bed. Zack reluctantly climbed in as well. He knew what was coming next, they were supposed to have sex now. "Don, you can't ask her to do this." Zack said, "She's to sick and if Dr. Hewley finds out-"

"Dr. Hewley is asleep, I've made sure of it." Don smirked, "Now hurry up." Aerith climbed on top of him and pushed him down onto the bed.

"Aerith-" she put a finger on his lips and he looked at her.

"Let me do everything." she said. Zack blinked in shock, she sounded so... different... Zack tore his eyes away and let her work. He didn't want to do this but he refused to let Aerith die so...

"I'm so sorry..." he whispered again.

"I know." she said. She slid down on top of him and gasped. Zack grit his teeth and closed his eyes. Was he hurting her? It felt so good... He mentally slapped himself, what the hell was he thinking? How could he be enjoying this? He heard Aerith moan and he fought the urge to push her away. They had to do this or someone would be shot. Zack briefly wondered if the gun had any bullets in it. He opened his eyes and slowly looked over to Don, the gun. It looked empty so maybe...

He felt the pressure in his penis, he wasn't sure what was about to happen but he had an idea. "Aerith stop... you have to stop..." he tried. He could barely get the words out, every time he opened his mouth to speak, he moaned. And then it happened, he came inside of her... "Aerith..." He opened his eyes and looked into hers. She looked a little shocked, she was probably embarrassed. "I'm so sorry Aerith I didn't-"

There was a loud noise and Aerith fell forward. Zack looked to Don with his eyes wide, "You shot her!" he shouted.

o.0.o.0.o

Muahahaha! Cliffhanger!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy

Chapter 9

How could he let it happen? He should've done more, he should've fought back... but he didn't and now Aerith was dying in the basement. Angeal had done all he could but he had to face it, Angeal was not a doctor. They'd gotten the bullet out and wrapped the wound but still... she hadn't moved since she'd been shot. He desperately wanted to take her to the hospital but he couldn't. Aerith would never survive the cold, the hospital was too far. He was even more angry with himself for letting don walk away.

He kept telling himself that he had to stay with Aerith, to make sure she didn't bleed out. But then he'd tell himself that he could have still stopped him. But no, instead he watched the man leave and even followed his orders on cleaning the sheets.

Zack continued to scrub the sheets, he needed to get the blood out. In reality, he was trying to take his mind off the situation. He was angry with himself for not protecting her. "Zack calm down." Zack ceased his scrubbing and looked towards the voice. One of the young boys, Rick.

"I'm trying." Zack mumbled.

"She's been moving since you left." Rick said, "She rolled over and made noises."

"Really?" he felt a little better hearing that, but until she woke up he'd be on edge forever.

"Yeah." Rick nodded. The young boy took the sheets from him, "I can finish these for you." he offered, "and you can go see Aerith."

"No it's fine." Zack sighed, "You should rest."

"But you've been doing everything." Rick said, "All we've been doing is sleeping. Maybe _you_ should rest." Zack nodded and stood up, he was tired but he didn't want to see Aerith the way she was. He walked towards Angeal's room. The man was planning, he was sure of it. He'd decided they needed to leave right away. It would be a little harder to get to Yuffie but they'd succeed somehow.

"'Geal..." he mumbled.

"Zack, go give Aerith her shot." Angeal said.

"I can't." Zack said, "I can't..."

"Zack, come on." Angeal stood up, "Look at this. I have a place set up for you guys to go. But Aerith needs to survive until then or she'll never get home."

"You don't understand, it's my fault she's like this." Zack said, "I wanted her to know I wasn't like all the other guys who have forced themselves on her! I tried to be different but I... I couldn't."

"It wasn't the same Zack, you know that." Angeal tried.

"No, I tried to hate it Angeal. But I couldn't because deep down, I wanted it." Zack mumbled.

"Zack, you're 15. You were just hormonal." Angeal said, "Really, it's not what you think." Zack didn't speak, he knew Angeal was just trying to make him feel better. But it wasn't working... Angeal pressed a needle into his hands and pushed him to the door, "Give her the shot, she needs to get better."

Zack sighed and walked away, "Alright." he walked down towards the basement. He looked out of a window and noticed it was getting dark. Don would be coming back soon.. "And when he gets back, I'm going to kill him." Zack mumbled to himself. But he didn't know how he was going to do that, Don had a gun and it was obvious he wasn't too shy about using it. If Don was able to shoot one of the important workers, it wouldn't take much for him to shoot a servant.

He entered the basement and walked over to his bed. Aerith had indeed moved. The blankets he'd neatly tucked her into were thrown messily to the floor and she was now lying on her stomach. A low whimper escaped her lips and she rolled onto her side. "Aerith... I'm sorry." he whispered. He leaned down next to her and gentle grabbed her arm. He hurried and gave her the shot and stood up. He needed to get out of there. He was halfway up the stairs when he heard her mumble his name. "...come back..." she mumbled. Zack turned and slowly walked down the steps again.

"Aerith?" he questioned. He couldn't tell if she was awake or not.

"Zack..." she mumbled again. Her eyes opened for a second before closing again.

"Aerith, don't try to speak." he walked back to her side, "You need to rest."

"It hurts..." she whimpered, "d-did you get shot too?"

"No..." Zack said slowly.

"Where is he?"

"He left, I don't know where." Zack said. Aerith stayed silent and Zack waited for a minute to see if she was asleep. "Aerith, I'm so sorry about what happened. Please forgive me..."

"I'm hungry." Aerith mumbled.

"Um... okay, how about soup?" he suggested

"Cheeseburger."

"Huh?"

"I want a burger." Aerith said louder, "And cheesecake." Zack rubbed his neck, why would she ask for those things? It must have been the medicine making her talk like this.

"How about soup?" he asked again.

"Yeah." Aerith agreed. Zack watched her for a little longer and left up to the kitchen. He'd make the soup, but she wouldn't eat it, he already knew it. She was falling asleep already and by the time the soup was finished, she would be fast asleep.

He sat down at the island and put his head in his hands, he was so tired. He slowly lowered his face onto the island and sighed. This must've been how Aerith felt when she was so stressed that she couldn't sleep. He lifted his head again and yawned, he'd just work himself until he passed out. He walked over to the fridge and took out a few ingredients, he could make chicken noodle soup. He sighed, he was a little tired of making soup but Aerith couldn't exactly eat anything else. "Zack!" Angeal called from his room, "Where are you?"

"In the kitchen." he replied. He stepped out and looked for the older man, "What is it?"

"I sent someone to get Yuffie." Angeal came into view and started down the stairs, " She'll be sent home sooner then Aerith."

"That's great." Zack nodded, "How much is this costing you?"

"just my entire college fund." Angeal shrugged.

"Angeal!" Zack gasped, "Your college money?"

"It's fine Zack, I went to a community college. I had more then 30,000 left to spend." Angeal said, "But I knew before I came into this... business... that i'd need a lot of money."

"I still feel bad." Zack said, "I could give you some of mine whenever I get paid."

"It's fine." Angeal said again, "Now go to bed."

"Aerith asked for soup." Zack said.

"I can make it." Angeal said, "Just go to bed." Zack rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I'm not tired." he lied, "I just need something to keep myself busy." He walked back into the kitchen and looked for a knife, "plus I need to make dinner before Don gets home."

"Just a few more days Zack." Angeal said, "After I get you to the safe point, it's your job to get to the airport."

"What? Where are you going?" Zack asked, "You aren't coming with us?"

"No, I have other people to help." Angeal said, "Once you're safe, give me another call, I'll try to visit you two."

"Uh huh." Zack mumbled. He found the knife and began to slice the carrots, "who knows how long that will be."

"It shouldn't take more then a few weeks." Angeal said.

"A few weeks?" Zack paused in his slicing, "There's an airport right here in town!"

"But the safe point is in Poland." Angeal said.

"Poland! That's so far away!" Zack set the knife down, "Why so far?"

"Don has friends in a lot of countries. Poland is the only place that's clear for now so that's where you need to go. The moment you escape, Don will tell everyone to find you. Poland has a place set up for runaways." Angeal said.

"How risky is this going to be?" Zack asked.

"How risky is _what_ going to be?" Zack almost jumped out of his skin as Don entered the kitchen.

"We were talking about Aerith, she's not doing to well and we were discussing the options." Angeal said, "I suggest getting her to a hospital."

"No, she'll be fine here." Don said, "I refuse to spend anymore money on her."

"but what if she dies?"

"Then you can bury her in the yard." Don sneered, "What are you making?"

"Soup for Aerith." Zack said.

"No, I want a normal meal. I haven't had a decent one since I got here." Don said with a sigh, "Make me some pasta."

"We don't have the ingredients for any type of pasta." Zack said.

"Well take Aerith to get some, you can use my car." Don said.

"I can't drive." Zack said, "And Aerith needs rest."

"Then I guess you'll walk." Don dug through his wallet and took out more money, "Hurry now I'm hungry." the man tossed the money onto the floor and walked away. Zack glared at the back of his head as he bent down to pick up the money.

"Calm down, maybe taking a walk is what you need." Angeal said, "I'll stay down with Aerith."

"Alright." Zack put the bills into his pocket and left the kitchen. He walked down into the basement and saw Aerith was still awake. "Aerith, why are you still up?"

"I'm waiting for my soup." Aerith said softly, "You said you would bring me some."

"Well Don came back and told me to go to the store, he doesn't want me making anymore soup." Zack said.

"You're leaving?" Aerith asked sadly, "And Don's back?"

"Yeah, but it won't take long." Zack promised.

"I want to come with you." Aerith said, "Don't leave me here."

"But you're too weak Aerith, you wouldn't survive out there." Zack said. He grabbed his coat, "I'll be back soon." He hurried out of the basement before she could say anything else. Why did she have to make him feel guilty about a trip to the store?

o.0.o.0.o

Yuffie hugged her pillow tightly. The day was finally over but she was really upset. Tifa and a boy named Cloud had run away last night and if gossip was true, they got away. But why would Tifa leave her alone? It wasn't fair... Tifa promised they'd run away together, they'd both get to go home. But then she left...

And Aerith was gone too. Don had taken her to his mansion and Italy. Another rumor was going around that she'd been shot and killed already. She was totally alone now. The other girls wouldn't talk to her and she could never find the opportunity to talk to any of the servants her age.

Yuffie sat up and stared at her door, she could hear speaking outside. She walked over and pulled the door open. "We're closed." she said immediately as she noticed the two men.

"Is your name Yuffie?" one man asked.

"Yes." Yuffie eyed the men wearily, they had to know the place was closed right?

"My name is Lazard, please come with me."

"Look what she's wearing, it's freezing outside." the other man said.

"I have a coat for her." Lazard handed her the coat he was holding, "Let's go."

"I'll get in trouble if I go with you." Yuffie said. She moved to close the door and Lazard put his foot in the way.

"We were sent by your friend to bring you home." he said quietly, "But we need to go now or you won't be able to get out of this." Yuffie's eyes widened and she put the coat on. She wasn't sure if Lazard was telling the truth but what could he do to her that was worse then what was already happening? He followed the men down the hall, there were guards outside the building, how would they get by them?

"Aerith sent you?" she asked hopefully, "She's didn't get shot?"

"She did get shot, but she's still alive." Lazard said, "Now keep quiet." Yuffie nodded and looked forward, they were heading for the door... Her heart sped up and she closed her eyes. She buried her face in the coat as they stepped outside. They kept walking and Yuffie sensed them passing the guards.

"Hey wait!" someone grabbed her arm, "Does she work here?"

"No, this is a friends child. He doesn't want her around here so I'll be watching her." Lazard said.

"I didn't see her walk in here." the guard said. He loosened his grip on her arm but didn't let go.

"I suggest you let her go right now, if she tells her father you grabbed her you'll be in trouble." Lazard threatened. The man let go completely and Yuffie looked away. The man hadn't seen her face yet and she had a feeling if he did, she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. "Let's go Felicia." Lazard said. Yuffie almost spoke up, she almost told him her name wasn't Felicia, but she caught herself in time. They walked away and Yuffie let out a breath.

"How long until I get home?"

"I'm not sure, you'll need to meet Zack and Aerith in Poland." Lazard said, "But you'll have to stay with me until I can get you there." Yuffie nodded, she couldn't wait to see Aerith again. They got into a car and started to drive away. Yuffie watched as they drove further away from the building, she still wasn't sure if this was real but she was still happy. "Are you hungry, we should eat as much as we can before we start running."

"Running? I thought we were going to Poland." Yuffie said.

"We are, but once they find out you're gone, they'll start to look. Don is serious about his workers." Lazard said, "But since he won't be back for a while, we have time. Would you like McDonald's?"

"Yes!" Yuffie exclaimed, "and ice cream and apples and candy and everything!"

"Not all at once." the other man said. Yuffie looked to him, he hadn't told her his name.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Veld." he answered. Yuffie nodded and sat back, she was still upset that Tifa had left her but that sadness was being drowned by the happiness that came with her escape.

o.0.o.0.o

Minerva sat across from Genesis at the dinner table. This would be the first time she'd made dinner since Aerith had disappeared and William wasn't even there. "Genesis, where is your father?" she asked.

"At the bar." Genesis mumbled. He picked at his food and sighed, "Who's that guy you've been talking to lately, the one with the weird hair."

"Kadaj? He's just a young man I met last week, he's been helping me look for Aerith." Minerva took a bite of her food and noticed how bland it tasted, she really needed to work on her cooking, "The police refuses to look for her anymore."

Genesis dipped his head and dropped his fork, "Will things go back to normal when we find her?" he asked. Minerva shrugged and stood up.

"How about we order some pizza?" she suggested.

"Yeah, okay." Genesis pushed his plate away and nodded. Minerva took his plate and stood up. She felt a little guilty about the way she'd treated him the week before. It wasn't really his fault someone abducted Aerith. "Can we have pepperoni?"

"Sure." Minerva said. She walked back into the kitchen and scraped the plates. She put the plates in the sink and looked around for her phone. She found it near the stove, she had two new text messages. One from William and one from Kadaj. She looked at the one from her husband first, 'Minerva, I'll be home for dinner' Minerva rolled her eyes, that was obviously a lie. She opened the one from Kadaj, 'I have a lead on aerith's location see me tomorrow.' she smiled at her phone and dialed the number for the pizza place. She could feel it, she'd be getting her daughter back soon.

0.o.0.o.0

I'm sorry to everyone who thought last chapter was the absolute last chapter. I want you to know the story is no where near over. Well yeah it is but we've got at least 10 more chapters. I'll probably stretch it more to build the relationship between Zack and Aerith, but you get the point. I'm also sorry for the length of the last chapter as well. It was too long and I meant to cut it in half but I forgot. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, it inspires me to write more.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was quiet in the basement, which was pretty unusual. There were kids in the basement and the kids were never completely quiet. Maybe she wasn't in the basement anymore.

"Come on Aerith, get up now." she heard Zack, so she must've been in the basement still. She opened her eyes and looked up, Zack was standing with a bowl in his hands. He lowered the bowl to her face and she smelled it, whatever was in that bowl smelled funny.

"Smells funny..." she mumbled. There was still no sound... why was it so quiet?

"Come on Aerith, you don't have to insult my cooking." Zack said, "I couldn't focus on it, so it smells a little weird. But it tastes alright."

"Why couldn't you focus?" Aerith asked curiously.

"Because you've been sick for the last few days." Zack said, "Don shot you remember?"

"Uh huh." Aerith nodded, "I still feel sick, but I feel better."

"Well Angeal has been giving you medicine." Zack said, "Are you well enough to walk yet?"

Aerith shrugged and sat up, she felt weak all over, but she was pretty sure she could walk. Zack placed the bowl of soup in her lap and sat down on the edge of the bed. Aerith picked up her spoon and tasted the food, "What is this?" she asked.

"Sea food Paella... but I made it wrong." Zack said, "How's it taste?"

"Yummy." Aerith said, she actually didn't think it was that great but she didn't want to make him upset. He was obviously upset about the past few days at least she assumed he was. She'd heard him mumbling apologies whenever she was awake enough to understand it. She wanted to forgive him, but she wasn't sure if that would work, she was upset about it too but honestly, she couldn't remember much of it. She knew she'd done something because Don made her, but she couldn't remember. When she tried to pull the memory up, something always stopped her. A voice in her head would tell her it wasn't something she wanted to remember at all. And if it was making Zack upset, it must've been bad right? "Where's Don?" she asked as she finished the dish.

"He's taking a bath... come on we need to talk." Zack helped her out of bed and led her up the steps.

"Where are we going?" she asked. Zack stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around, "Zack?" He put a finger to his lips and waited. Aerith held his hand and looked around anxiously, why were they standing here? After a minute she saw Angeal coming down the steps with a black duffel bag.

"Come on we have to leave now." Angeal walked out of the building and Zack pulled Aerith along with him. Aerith didn't question it, Zack probably knew where they were going. Angeal opened the door for them and Zack pushed her in before him.

"Zack? What's happening?" she asked once everyone had gotten into the car, "We're going to get in trouble." she fell back into the seat and closed her eyes, "We shouldn't have left, Don's going to know."

"It doesn't matter." Zack said. Aerith turned to him and opened her eyes, was she not understanding the situation or were they being secretive? Maybe she was just feeling her sickness again.

"Zack, why was it so quiet before? What happened to all the kids?" Aerith asked.

"Don sold them." he answered bitterly, "He said he wasn't making enough back at home, some people escaped while he was gone and everything. So he sold the kids and he was going to sell you too, but you were too sick and no one wanted the trouble."

"He sold them?" Aerith mumbled, "I hope their okay..."

"They'll be fine." Zack said, but Aerith could tell he didn't believe it. She leaned on Zack and sighed, she could tell life was about to get crazier for her. But it maybe it would be crazier in a good way, if they were escaping like she thought they were, then it would get better and she'd see her family again. "Angeal, someone's following us." Zack said. He squeezed her hand and gazed out of the window.

"Calm down Zack, there are a lot of cars on this street that just happen to be going the same way." Angeal said, "He doesn't know we've left yet."

"Where are we going?" Aerith asked.

"Poland." Zack mumbled, "We're meeting Yuffie somewhere in between and Cloud and Tifa should show up there sooner or later/"

"Poland?" Aerith repeated, "How long is that going to take?"

"A while, Poland's all the way over there." Zack pointed absently and continued to stare out of the window.

"We aren't going there first, we have a lot more stops to make." Angeal said. Aerith nodded and glanced out of the window as well, there were a lot of cars behind them, but she was sure they weren't following them.

"What are you looking at Zack? There's nothing but cars back there." Aerith said.

"But they're following us!" Zack snapped, "Drive faster Angeal."

"That'll make us look suspicious." Angeal said, "And there's a speed limit."

"But if they catch us-"

"They won't catch us Zack, stop thinking like that, you're scaring Aerith." Angeal said. Aerith looked up, she wasn't scared. Nope, she was completely calm. Maybe because the paranoia hadn't set in yet, she hoped it never did actually.

"Sorry." Zack mumbled, he reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the window, "It's late out, where are we going first?"

"We're getting out of this town first." Angeal said, "There;s a hotel I'm taking you too. I know the woman who owns it so if Don sends someone, which I doubt he will, then she'll help you out." Aerith nodded and yawned, she was getting sleepy again. Her head began to pound and she groaned.

"Headache?" Zack asked quietly. Aerith nodded, "Me too, I'm stressed out already, I can't imagine what it'll be like for the rest of this trip."

"It'll be fine." Aerith mumbled, although she wasn't quite sure. She closed her eyes again and slowly drifted off, she felt a little bad about going to sleep while Zack was so stressed out but she couldn't help it.

o.0.o.0.o

Tifa held Cloud's hand and allowed him to lead her through the crowded streets. She wondered how Yuffie was doing, she'd promised to help the girl escaped yet she got up and left without her. "Cloud, where are we going?" she asked. The boy didn't look sure at all, every now and then he'd stop and look around uncertainly. They were supposed to meet someone but she didn't know who, and from the looks of things, Cloud didn't know either.

"Zack said he'd meet us at the square." Cloud said, "I can't remember where it is."

"But Zack's in Italy with Don." Tifa reminded, "There's no way he could meet us at the square."

"Well maybe it wasn't Zack..." Cloud trailed off, "I'm sorry Tifa, I can't remember."

"We can't go back Cloud, we'll be in so much trouble." Tifa said, "Remember." She continued to run until they noticed a man and... "Yuffie!" Without thinking, Tifa ran forward, taking Cloud along with her.

"Quiet now, let's go." The man said. He turned and walked away and Yuffie followed. Tifa followed as well, this must've been the man they were looking for, why else was Yuffie with him?

"Did Zack send you?" Cloud asked quietly. The man nodded and led them to car, they got in and closed the door. There was another man in the drivers seat, this man had blonde hair.

"First stop, Czech republic. That's where we'll meet Zack and Aerith, you'll be on your own then." the driver said.

"where will you go?" Yuffie asked.

"To help more people." he answered.

"Oh." Yuffie mumbled, she leaned against Tifa and closed her eyes. Tifa looked down and wondered if the younger girl was angry with her. She had left her without saying a thing to her, "I'm happy we found you." Yuffie said, "I was scared we wouldn't see each other anymore."

"I'm sorry for leaving you Yuffie." Tifa said, "I just didn't think we'd be able to take you with us."

"All those times when you told me not to try to escape, were you planning? Without me?" Yuffie asked.

"No... I wasn't..." Tifa stopped, she had been planning, she wouldn't lie, but originally, she'd been planning for both she and Yuffie. But Cloud came and told her his plan, and that he only had enough for two tickets. Her mind was gone at the time and she was desperate to get out, so she accepted his offer. "It wasn't like that Yuffie." she said finally, "My plans for us got a little messed up."

"Alright, it doesn't matter now." Yuffie said, "Lazard's going to take us home."

Tifa nodded and glanced at Cloud, she wondered if he was feeling guilty about what they'd done, he'd known Yuffie wanted to escape, but he didn't try to include her in their plan. "How long will it be until we get home?" she asked the driver.

"A month or more." Lazard said, "There's a lot of processing we need o get you through." Tifa frowned, a month? That was a long time, she was expecting to be home within the week. She put her arm around Yuffie and took Cloud's hand, she figured she'd better get closer to them, they'd be together longer then she thought.

o.0.o.0.o

Genesis watched his step mother interact with their guest, this guy was weird. He didn't look older then 16 yet he was helping solve a serious case? And to make matters worse, Minerva was flirting with him, FLIRTING! How was that going to help find Aerith?

"You said you had a lead on the case?" Genesis reminded. Both people stopped their chatter and turned to him.

"That's right." Minerva said, "Who has my baby?"

Kadaj looked stuck, he scratched his chin nervously and cleared his throat, "Well, someone said they saw her being taken, they have a license plate number from the car." he said, "You'll have to go to them to ask about it."

"Oh, so you didn't actually make sure this was a real lead? I bet you're going off rumors or something." Genesis said. Minerva glared at him and sighed.

"Genesis, it doesn't matter if it's a rumor or not, we need any information we can get." Minerva said, "But of course you wouldn't understand would you?" she turned away and looked at Kadaj, "Why don't we do this somewhere else?"

"That sounds fine." Kadaj said. They both got up and started for the door, just as they were leaving, Kadaj turned and smirked at him. Genesis curled his fist and lashed out on the sofa, this wasn't right at all. He stomped up to his room and got into bed, everything was messed up... He hadn't seen his dad in days and Minerva was spending more and more time with Kadaj. He couldn't bring himself to hang out with friends because all they talked about was what they did with their families. He never went out because people in this town hung out with their families 24/7. He felt out of place and he desperately wanted Aerith to come home.

Genesis was starting to hate his home town, everything in it just reminded him that he no longer had a family.

o.0.o.0.o

Hello everyone! I'm sorry this took so long, I was depressed... My cousin broke my Nintendo in half! And i'd just gotten Harvest Moon TtoTT for it... and I threw out the receipt so no returns... but anyway enjoy the chapter... this is at the bottom so you might have already read the chapter but... review!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Genesis' face twisted in confusion as he sat down at the table. Minerva had actually cooked dinner, and that was a miracle. She hadn't stepped foot in the kitchen in the last 2 months. "It's been a while." he murmured. It was the first time in months that they had gathered for dinner and everyone was already spaced out.

His father poked at the chicken breast with his fork and watched it with glassy eyes. It was only 5 and the man was already drunk. Genesis rolled his eyes and glanced at Minerva, she was rolling a pea around her plate and occasionally glancing at Aerith's usual spot. "Guys?" he paused as both of his parents looked to him, "I uh… I have a game tomorrow." he said.

"A game?" Minerva repeated. Genesis nodded, he had the feeling that neither of them knew he'd even joined a team. "We'll be there, don't worry." she said after a moment.

"If you're too busy…" he trailed off. Minerva spent a lot of time trying to find Aerith… Was it right to ask her to push that aside?

"No, I've pushed your needs aside for long then I can remember." Minerva finally stabbed at the pea and lifted it too her mouth, "I'll be right in the front row." Genesis tried to hide his excitement. Even before Aerith went missing, Minerva had never shown up to any of his games. There had always been something more important. But Aerith, she had always shown up to his games. Even in freezing temperatures, she had always been on the bleachers shivering and cheering him on. He chuckled quietly and recalled a time when he'd broken his leg. He hadn't been able to play but he still arrived at the game and sat with his team. Aerith hadn't even realized he wasn't playing, she continued to cheer him on.

"Your on a team?" his dad spoke up," Is it football again?"

"Yes." he nodded.

"What are you? The water boy?" Minerva joked. His father laughed, he laughed, and Minerva laughed. But the laughter quickly ended and turned into an awkward silence.

"I've been thinking." William cleared his throat, "We should get out and have some fun."

"What do you mean?" Minerva asked.

"Since Aerith disappeared, we've done nothing but mope around." he started, "And I know she would hate that. According to her, walking around with a frown would only make you sick."

"Yes but-"

"She'll be happy to know that we didn't disregard everything she'd told us while she was away." he said, "So what do you say?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Minerva smiled, "We could all use a break." She put her fork down and leaned forward, "What did you have in mind?"

"A vacation… to Italy. My boss wants me to go and take a break. He convinced his brother to let us stay in his Mansion. It's in Trento, I'm not sure what we could do there, but it'll be nice to leave the country." William said.

"A mansion?" Genesis said, "In Italy? That's awesome." A vacation sounded nice, and he'd always wanted to go to Italy. He and Aerith had talked about it and they'd both agreed that Italy was a place they'd go if they ever had the money. He'd then proceeded to pick a fight with her over the way she acted in school… He shook the thought away, "Uh, when do we leave?"

"2 days." William said, "And we'll stay for a week."

Minerva nodded, "I'll have to buy new clothes. Clothes that match what people where in Italy." she said, "Clothes there would be so expensive wouldn't they? But anything here isn't authentic… What a dilemma." Minerva stopped when her phone rang, "Who could that be?" she said as she answered it. Genesis frowned, was it that idiot Kadaj? If it was, he was going to- "Is this some type off joke?" Minerva held the phone angrily and looked to William. He blinked and mouthed a phrase; Minerva shook her head and stood up. She dropped her phone into her dinner and rushed out of the kitchen. A strangled cry left her throat and William followed her. Genesis watched in confusion before picking up the phone. If this was Kadaj that had made her so upset he was going to kill him.

"Hello?"

"G-genesis?" a familiar voice whispered.

"Aerith?!" he whispered back.

"What happened? Why did mom leave?" Aerith asked frantically.

"Aerith where are you?" he ignored her question.

"I'm in Italy." she replied, "But I'm on my way home. I-I finally got to a phone and I just wanted to call…" Aerith said, "I have to go but… Goodbye. Tell mom I love her." the phone clicked and Genesis pulled the phone away from his ear. He stared at the number in disbelief before rushing to his room. All he needed to do was type it in to the internet and he'd know where she'd called from. At least the Area code could tell him something.

He entered his room, opened his laptop and typed in the number. The number was that of a hotel in Trento Italy. His mind did a back flip, Aerith was in Trento and he would be in Trento… "I can save her…" he murmured. He stood up and closed the computer, he hoped Aerith would stay there just a little longer so he could come and bring her home.

0.o.0.o.0

Meh, a year with no updates? What's wrong with me?I'm sorry this chapter is so short and that I took so long to upload. But I've remedied that by pre typing 4 new chapters. All of which are about Aerith and Zack and Genesis.

Just to clear things up, Aerith has been away from home for only 3 months. It's was late September when she was kidnapped so it's sometime in December now.

Yes, this story is wrapping up. But the last few chapters will be action filled and there might be a sequel. Maybe.

Update:Sorry to anyone who read while it was bunched together strangely.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Aerith quietly placed the phone on the hook and turned to Zack. He was sleeping peacefully on the bed. She tiptoed over to him and crawled into the bed. Earlier in the day he'd suggested that he sleep on the floor, but she'd refused. "Eugh…" Zack groaned and rolled over. Aerith chuckled and wrapped herself in the blanket that Zack had tossed off just moments ago.

She stared at his back and sighed. It was a shame that these moments would be gone. Zack was the only guy she was comfortable around now. At first, she'd seen his attempts to get closer to her as an attempt to get in her pants without having to pay. But now, she felt guilty for even thinking him capable of such things. He'd spent most of his life since he was ten in the Honeybee and she'd assumed that he saw woman the way all of her clients had. But Zack was different! When he looked at her, his eyes weren't clouded with lust or anger or even hate. He just looked happy. That's why she allowed herself to snuggle up to his back and even touch him. He didn't make her feel disgusted with herself. He made her feel safe.

She lifted her hands and felt his hair. It still amazed her that it shaped tself without hair gel. Even after his shower, his hair had sprung right back up into it's usual style. But her hair was like that too. Her bangs seemed to arch just above her forehead without interference. "Stop touching me Aerith." Zack mumbled. She pulled her hand away quickly and blushed as he turned to face her, "Aren't you tired?"

"No, I'm too excited I guess." she admitted. She would be home in a week… How could she sleep when her long awaited reunion was so close? "Did I wake you?" she asked.

"No, I guess my body decided I'd been sleeping too long." he yawned, "And you know what? Angeal is going to take me clothes shopping today."

"Can I come?" she asked.

"I'd like it if you didn't." he sat up, "If Don sees you-"

Stop!" she sat up as well, "Why are you so worried about this?"

"Because I'd feel horrible if you were sent back to that place." Zack said, "It's not something I want to happen, I think you'll be safer here."

"And if you get caught?" she asked, "What then?"

"I'm just a servant, he's not looking for me." Zack shrugged, "All I ever did was clean toilets and spit in his drinks."

"Yeah, I guess." she sighed, "But I don't want to stay in here all day. I feel just as trapped as I did at the Honeybee."

"I guess…maybe… you should rest. I mean, you got shot a few days ago and you should rest because you've been hurt and…" Zack sighed, "Can't you wait just a few more days?"

"I suppose." she nodded, "But will you buy me a pretty dress? And a ribbon and boots? I want to look nice again." She touched her hair, "Or you know, just a comb."

"Alright, I'm going to try and see if my clothes are dry." he got out of bed and Aerith gasped. Why hadn't she noticed before that he was only wearing a robe? "One more thing Aerith," he paused and looked at her, "Please, don't make anymore phone calls." He entered the bathroom and closed the door. And Aerith sighed, she'd hoped he wouldn't hear that. It was just a small call, she wanted her mother to know she was okay.

But her mother hadn't believed it was her. She'd angrily declared it a joke and probably even left the room. That made her angry, had people been calling and pretending to be her? That was the only reason her mother wouldn't believe that it was her on the phone.

But at least Genesis had believed her. "Genesis…" she whispered. She couldn't think of him without feeling angry. If he'd gone to get what they had needed for dinner, she wouldn't be battered and bruised at all. She would be at home and safe. Loz wouldn't have been able to grab Genesis, he was too strong for that. Genesis would have punched him and Loz would have cried. But no… Genesis had been lazy. He'd argued with her mother and pushed the responsibility to her. She'd rolled her eyes at first, because that hadn't been the only time that Genesis had done that.

"It's not his fault." she mumbled. How could he have known that she would be kidnapped? It wasn't the first time she'd gone out after dark to fetch something from the store. And the town wasn't known to be dangerous. No one could have known.

Zack touched her shoulder, "I'm hungry." he said. She looked up at him and sighed.

"Dinner ends at 10." she said, "You'd have to hurry."

"Okay, I'm going to run down there now. I'll bring you back something." he said as he headed for the door, "I hate going out all wrinkly." he smoothed his shirt out, "But it'll have to do."

"Don't bring me too much, I'm not really able to eat much." she said.

"Alright." Zack said as he left the room. Aerith wrapped herself in the blankets and sighed. She was finally able to eat whatever she wanted, yet she couldn't bring herself to. She remembered that Zack had gotten breakfast for them and she'd only been able to stomach a few bites of her omelet before she threw up. Maybe it was because she was still sort of sick. She didn't feel as bad as she did after she'd gotten shot, but she still felt sick. The medicine that Angeal had given her for the pain seemed to be wearing off and she was suddenly in a lot of pain.

She closed her eyes, soon she would be home and the pain would be forgotten. She smiled, she couldn't wait to see them- "Honestly, I have no idea where she went!" she sat up as she heard Don shout in the hall. Right outside of her door. "That man, he claimed he was a doctor, but all he did was take her away." She pulled the blanket to her chin, he'd found her…

Even worse, he would find Zack. He was down getting dinner and would probably find Zack as he returned to the room. "No…" she bit her lip. She didn't want to go back. She'd told Genesis that she would be home soon. He was waiting for her…

"But I'll find her. She's practically dying, she couldn't have gotten too far." Don chuckled, "I saw what she was doing wrong and I know exactly how to fix it."

"Really?" another man said, "And what about the servant boy?"

"Zack? That's why I'm here. I have no one to cook for me. I bet he went with Hewley too." Don sneered, "I need him as well. Aerith seems to enjoy demonstrating on him."

Her eyes snapped open, "Demonstrating?" she repeated. She didn't know what he meant by that but she had a clue.

"Come on, let's talk in the room." Don said. She listened intently and waited. The voices faded and she heard the door close. She released a breath and threw the blanket off. She wanted to run down to the kitchen and tell Zack what had happened, but she couldn't. She would just have to sit back and wait for Zack to return.

0.o.0.o.0.o

And you thought it was almost over. :)

HAHAHA! To be continued! Thanks for being patient and stuff. I know I'm not being as speedy as I was when I first started, but I'm working on that. I promise.

Please review.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Yuffie skipped through the lobby with a smile on her face. She couldn't understand any of the people around her, but she didn't need to. She knew where she needed to be. Lazard had given her a card with the room number in it. She was a little sad to see that he was going to be gone now, but the thought of being home in a few days made her ignore the feeling. She couldn't wait to get home and see her brother again.

But as she thought about her brother, she realized that he'd be really upset with her when she got home. Before she had gotten kidnapped, she threw a tantrum at a party he was having with all of his friends. She remembered them laughing at him for not being able to control her and she remembered feeling extremely satisfied because of it. The next day he yelled at her for it and she threw another tantrum in response. She screamed at him and told him all of his rules were stupid…and he'd told her to leave… "If you don't like any of the rules I've set in place here, then you should just leave."

So she did. She waited until he grounded her and went to work, then she packed her bag and ran away… And on the way she met Loz. Loz was big and buff, yet he was like a little kid. He understood everything she was going through and was really nice to her. He took her out to eat, they went to an amusement park and when she got sleepy, he took her to his house. He tucked her in and let her sleep and when she woke up, she was homesick. She'd wanted to go home but he wouldn't let her. He told her it was too late and that she was going to help him pay his bills somehow. She told him she didn't have a job and everything went down hill from there…

They'd hurt her and locked her in a room for several days. She remembered that Loz came in a few times with food. But to get the food, she had to do him 'special favors' and she never wanted to do them. So she never got any food… but then Aerith came. And she'd heard her screaming really loud. She knew that she was being hurt, but she couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Hey! Yuffie!" she snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. She felt tears on her face and knew that she'd been crying. "Hey! Over here." She saw someone waving and she walked over, "Hey, what's wrong? You're almost home. Why are you crying?"

"Zack?" she asked. She was a bit surprised. Lazard told her that Zack and Aerith were in Poland, so what was he doing in Italy with her? "What are you doing here?"

"Angeal, he changed his plans up a lot." Zack laughed, "We're going to be staying here for a few days before we take a plane back to America."

"And where's Aerith?" she asked, "Is she okay? I heard she got shot and… is she okay?"

"How did you guys hear that?" Zack scratched his head, "I mean, you're so far away."

"Can I see her?" she asked eagerly. Zack nodded and took her hand. She let him lead her down the hall. She couldn't wait to see Aerith, she had so much to tell her. "What happened to Don?" she asked curiously. She wanted to know how they escaped.

"Oh man." Zack suddenly sped up and entered the elevator, "How could I forget?" He was practically running down the hall, and she was having a hard time keeping up.

"Zack, slow down…" She tried to speed up, but his legs were a lot longer then hers. He turned a corner and she almost fell, but that didn't stop him.

"We're here." He finally stopped and swiped his keycard through the scanner. There was a click and he pushed her into the room and closed the door behind them.

"Zack!" Aerith whispered, "Did he see- Yuffie?" Yuffie smiled and waved, Aerith looked really bad. It was dark in the room, but she could tell that she was pale. There were dark bruises all over her arms.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Um, yeah." She nodded. Yuffie nodded even though she knew that she wasn't okay. She walked over and climbed into the bed.

"I missed you." she said, "People kept saying that you were dead, and no one liked me... and Tifa! She ran away with Cloud and left me all alone," she curled up next to Aerith as she'd done when they both lived at the Honeybee. "I can't wait to get home."

"Yeah." Aerith wrapped her arms around her, "Are you tired?"

"A little, but I'm too excited to sleep." Yuffie said.

"Me too." Zack said, "Well, not really. I slept all day." Yuffie nodded and began to talk. She wanted to tell her everything that had happened to her in the last few days. She'd had so much ice cream and candy that she was feeling a little sick.

"Slow down, Yuffie." Aerith laughed, "You'll be able to tell me everything tomorrow."

"But…" she rolled her eyes, "You want me to sleep so you can talk to Zack." She knew that Zack liked Aerith, but whenever she'd seen the two together, Aerith was always mean to him. But now, she'd been so happy to see him that she hadn't even noticed she was in the room.

"We do need to talk, but I'm really tired." Aerith said, "And if anything, you need to hear this too."

"What?" she asked.

"I heard…" she stopped, "I heard Don today."

"What?" Zack gasped, "When?"

"After you left to get dinner." she said, "He was looking for us. In the room across the hall."

"No… I just saw the guys across the halls before I went to the kitchen." Zack said, "They're just really old people."

"But I heard him, Zack." Aerith said. Yuffie closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Aerith. She didn't know who to believe. Zack had seen the people in the room and Aerith had heard them…

"No… There's no way. He wouldn't know we're here, Angeal said he wouldn't find us." Zack argued, "Angeal doesn't lie."

"And you think I do?" Aerith sat up and let her go, "You think I'd lie about that?" Yuffie opened her eyes and looked at Zack, he looked guilty. She could tell that he didn't believe her.

"It's not that…" Zack started.

"Then what is it?" Aerith got out of bed, "You don't look like you believe me."

"Aerith sit down, you're hurt." Zack said.

"No." Aerith grabbed a pillow and ran into the bathroom.

0.o.0.o.0

She curled up in the bathtub and smothered her sobs with her pillow. She was hurt that Zack didn't believe her, as if she would lie about something like this. She'd heard him, they'd talked about stuff she didn't know about, like demonstrating… What had he meant by that? He said that he'd seen what she'd been doing wrong and she also enjoyed demonstrating with Zack… Was it what she thought it was? Did they have sex…?

They must have, when they'd first arrived in Italy Don had said that he'd find out why her customers were always so angry. They were supposed to have sex but he hadn't been able to get his pants off. Maybe he'd witnessed her having sex with Zack… Maybe that's why he shot her.

No. None of that made sense, she wouldn't have willingly had sex with Zack, it didn't matter how safe she felt around him, she didn't like him enough to do that.

"Aerith." Zack knocked on the door, "I'm sorry." She didn't answer, her mind was so jumbled that she wasn't able to form a sentence. "Aerith?" She heard him sigh before walking away. Yuffie said something, but her voice was muffled.

She pulled the pillow away from her head and wiped her eyes. She didn't want to believe that she'd had sex with Zack, that would make everything so weird. If he'd taken advantage of her sickness and used her like every other man she knew, then they could never be friends again. And she didn't want that. She trusted him and she didn't want to believe that he would harm her like that.

"Aerith? Please, come out of there." Zack knocked again, "I'll check it out if you want."

"NO!" she sat up and tried to get out of the bath tub. She ended up falling and hitting her head on the floor. Her vision blurred and she groaned.

"Aerith!? Are you okay?" Zack shouted. She held her head and curled up, "Aerith?"

"I fell…" she said, "And I hit my head…"

"I'm coming in." The door opened and Zack rushed in. Yuffie stood at the doorway, and frowned.

"He hurt you a lot." she said quietly. Aerith sat up and attempted to cover arms.

"No, I'm fine." she tried, "I just… I've been really sick and I haven't been getting better."

"Are you having a baby?" Yuffie asked, "Maybe that's why you aren't getting better."

Zack put his arms around her and tried to help her up, "You should get some rest." he said.

"No." she pushed him away, "I'm going to take a bath."

"But… are you sure?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she snapped, "I think I can take a bath by myself."

"I'm sorry." Zack sighed, "You just look so… I don't… never mind."

"Can I help you Aerith?" Yuffie asked.

"Yuffie," she said slowly, "I don't need help." Yuffie rolled her eyes and walked away. Aerith waited a moment before looking to Zack, "Close the door." she said quietly, "I need to ask you something." She stood and cleared her throat. She watched Zack and noticed his slightly worried expression, "Tell me the truth, Zack…"

"What?" Zack blinked, "About what?" She caught the panic in his voice, he must have known what she was about to ask. Maybe he was scared that she would find out. Maybe he was worried of things becoming awkward as well.

"The night I was shot," she started. "Did we have sex?"

Zack was silent and Aerith's worst fears had been confirmed. "Why?" she demanded, "How could you…Why would… I thought you were my friend!" She curled her fists angrily and it took everything she had not to punch him in the face.

"I am!" Zack said quickly, "And it wasn't like that, I never wanted to do that to you!"

"Really? How does that work out? Did someone force you to have sex with me?" she yelled. She waited; she wanted to hear his excuse. Maybe because she was hoping that Zack didn't take advantage of her like she thought. "Please Zack, tell me why."

"Would you even believe me?" He asked. He sounded hurt, and she knew why. He had tried hard to hide this from her. Maybe because he was afraid of what would happen if she found out. It was the same as her, she feared that if her thoughts were confirmed, things would become weird.

"I want to." she admitted, "You were the only guy I've ever trusted since I became a HoneyBee and I don't want to believe that you're anything like the other ones."

"Aerith, I promise it wasn't like that. He had a gun and-" he paused. "I can't say that I wasn't a little... aroused by you, but I never would have had sex with you if he hadn't pointed that gun at you."

"Don?" she asked.

"Yeah… He said he that you needed practice." Zack cleared his throat, "And… I wasn't going to do it, I kept saying no. But you told me to do it."

"What?" she blinked, "Why would I do that?"

"I figured you were scared. He had a gun pointed at you and I guess you didn't want to get shot." he sighed, "But he shot you anyway…"

"And you… kept apologizing." Aerith said as the memory of the night came back to her. "I… can't believe this…"

"Aerith, I really am sorry." Zack said. Aerith turned away from him and sniffled.

"This… I'm sorry too." she said. She felt the tears roll down her face and she fell to her knees.

"Aerith?" Zack took a step towards her, "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, "No…I," she paused. "I think-" she shook her head, "Never mind. Just… let me take my bath, alright?"

"Alright." Zack left the room and closed the door behind him. Aerith stayed in the same position and cried for a few minutes before quickly sitting up and emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Her mind instantly jumped back to Yuffie's statement from before, and her heart almost stopped.

"No…" she whispered. Was it possible? Could she be… pregnant?

0.o.0.o.0

Tehe... I promise to give more updates on Tifa and Cloud, I honestly forgot about them. In my mind, they already made it home. But in the story, they haven't... Enjoy!

**EDIT: Beta'd and re-uploaded by OmegaStarShooter14**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

He watched them all pack their bags in anticipation, they were finally leaving. He'd run through the plan in his mind at least 20 times, there was no way it wouldn't work. He sat back and smiled, everything would be alright again very soon. "Genesis?" Minerva walked by him, "Are you done packing?"

"Yeah." he said, "You guys are the only ones who take forever. We'll be there 7 days, not 7 years."

"Genesis, there are things you have to take when going on vacation." Minerva said.

"I know that, I've got dinner clothes, I have stuff to relax in, and I have things to wear when we're out on the town." Genesis sighed, "What more do I need?"

"Maybe something to do when you aren't out in town? Like, maybe you should bring a book or something." Minerva said, "You'll regret only bringing clothes when you get bored."

"It's a mansion; I bet there will be books there somewhere." Genesis shrugged.

"The books would most likely be in Italian." Minerva reminded. She walked away and Genesis closed his eyes, all of his free time would be used searching for the hotel Aerith was in. If she was still there. He didn't know who had her, but he knew that no one was going to stop him from getting her back.

But what if she wasn't there anymore? It had been 2 days since that call, what if they took her somewhere else? What if he was too late? "No…" he couldn't think like that. He was going to find her, and he was going to destroy anyone who would event try to get in his way.

The doorbell rang and he got up, "I got it!" he called. He answered it and frowned, "What do you want?" he asked bitterly.

"Don't look at me like that little boy, I'm only trying to help."

"We're busy, we don't have time for-" he was interrupted by Minerva.

"Genesis, stop that." she put a hand on his shoulder, "What are you doing here Kadaj?"

"I heard you were going on vacation." he said.

"Who'd you hear that from?" Genesis asked.

"That's not important, is it?" Kadaj smiled, "I just wanted to see you before you left." the second part wasn't directed at him, but at Minerva. He back away slowly and narrowed his eyes. Minerva looked away from Kadaj and blushed.

"But I told you," she whispered, "You can't keep doing this."

"And I told you I wouldn't," Kadaj leaned closer, "But you know we won't get any closer to finding her if you don't do it."

"I'm going on vacation." she declared, "And I don't need your help."

"But-

"No, it went on for far too long." Minerva pushed him back, "Please leave."

Kadaj looked surprise, he'd been using the Aerith's disappearance for his own benefit for so long, and it must have shocked him to see that Minerva wasn't falling for it. "You're making a mistake." he said, "Just come with me; I can send you to the exact person that took your daughter."

"How?" Genesis asked, "How would you know who took her?"

"I just do." Kadaj sighed, "And you should mind your own business."

"No, why do you keep coming back here?" he stepped between Kadaj and Minerva and crossed his arms; "Every time you come back here you just make everything worse. You fill her head with lies and then you can't even follow through with any of the 'leads' you claim to have. Don't think I don't know what you really want."

"Genesis." Minerva took a breath, "Just, close the door." She walked away and sighed, "Don't come back here Kadaj." Genesis didn't wait for Kadaj's response; he just closed the door and walked away.

"Don't let him get to you." he told Minerva, "He's just messing with your head."

"I know. He's been doing that the entire time… he never knew anything about my baby." she sniffled, "But he had her pin, the bunny pin. People told him it was hers, and I guess I figured that if he could find her pin, he could find her."

"The bunny pin?" Genesis repeated. He remembered that pin, she had been wearing it all day and… nobody knew she had that pin. She's gotten it from an antique shop and showed it to him. He could remember how excited she'd been…

"_Look at this…" she held the metallic pin in his face, "It cost me $20."_

"_$20 for this piece of junk?" he took it out of her hands, "When would you ever wear this?"_

"_I'm going to wear it all day today and tomorrow and the day after that too." she took it back and pinned it to her shirt, "It looks great, doesn't it?" He rolled his eyes, it looked stupid. But she seemed to like it, so he'd just agree with her._

"_You're not going to wear that to school are you?" he asked._

"_I plan to," she said, "Why?"_

"_Because people will make fun of you for wearing it, it's something you'd only see on old people." he said._

"_You think so?" she touched the pin, "I guess a lot of people wouldn't be able to appreciate it."_

"_Yeah, remember when the broke Carol's necklace?" he said. Aerith's eyes widened and she took the pin off._

"_I guess you're right." she tucked it into her pocket, "I wouldn't want someone to break it, kids are so mean."_

"_I know, but you can put it in your room. Along with all the other weird things you buy." he smiled._

"_Shut up Genesis!" she crossed her arms, "They aren't weird, they have value."_

"_Yeah, whatever." he laughed. He heard Minerva walk through the front door and he decided to leave the room. "Keep that safe." he reminded. He started towards his room and heard Aerith begin to chatter excitedly as she showed Minerva her newest treasure._

He frowned, he'd been so embarrassed of the little pin, and he hadn't wanted people to see her in it. He didn't want them to make fun of her, because, like she'd said, kids were mean. They would make fun of her for wearing such an antique pin. And then his friends would laugh at him too. They would have made jokes about how his little sister wore grandma jewelry. And he would have rolled his eyes and said something about how she wasn't his real sister.

"Genesis?" Minerva touched him, "Are you alright?"

"That pin…" he started, "I just-"

"Come on, our plane will leave in a few hours." William called from the kitchen, "Start loading the car."

"Alright." he took a breath, "You got the pin back right?"

"Yes…" Minerva reached into her pocket, "its right here." She held it out to him and he took it. It was a little damaged, as if someone had stepped on it. But it was the same pin that she'd been wearing when she went to the store that day. He ran his fingers over it. Aerith would be upset about this, but he would make sure that she could wear it again. "Genesis, why don't you keep that?" Minerva suggested, "I'm going to get my bags."

Genesis nodded and closed his hand around the pin. He was still going to save her, and he wouldn't be the same jerk he used to be to her. "We should hurry; I don't want to miss our flight." He slipped the bunny into his pocket and went to get his suitcases.

0.o.0.o.0

Baby… she couldn't have a baby… she was 14, she couldn't have a baby! "Maybe you aren't pregnant." Yuffie tried. But she'd been the first one to bring it up, "Maybe you're sick because you were shot."

"I hope so." she sniffled, "Zack?" She searched the room for him and found him by the window, "What do you think?" He looked up at her and then looked away in shame.

"Ho would I know… I'm not an expert. You don't look pregnant." he said. Aerith rolled her eyes and buried her face in a pillow. SHe still needed to apologize to him; she'd blown up on him for keeping her in the dark about what they'd done before she'd been shot. But that wasn't really his fault. He'd been worried about how she would react.

"Zack?" she called again, "Why do you sleep all the way over there?"

"There's no room in the bed anymore."

"Ew. You two slept in the same bed?" Yuffie wrinkled her nose and Zack frowned.

"Cut it out Yuffie." Aerith laughed, "Zack happens to be perfect for cuddling." she was a little surprised at that remark, and apparently Zack was too.

"We've never cuddled." he said.

"Sure we have. Before I was shot, I'm pretty sure we did once. And 2 days ago, before Yuffie got here."

"Yeah, I guess you could count that." he smiled. And that made her smile. She still felt safe around him, even with the revelation that they'd had sex. It didn't seem to bother her as much as she thought it would. Her memory had come back to her 2 days ago, and she knew it wasn't his fault. She never wanted him to see her naked again, but that was different.

"Zack… what if this baby is yours?" she asked.

"What?" he looked at her with wide eyes, "Why would it…? Is that possible?"

"I think so." she nodded, "And if it is?"

"Then I-" he stopped, "Do you hear that?" he stood up. She sat up as well, she hadn't heard anything.

"Excuse me? Aerith?" it sounded like the woman who'd delivered their food to them earlier in the day.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Your father is here." she said. Her father? William? He was here? That wasn't possible, unless they somehow tracked her through the phone. She jumped out of bed and ran towards the door.

"Aerith wait!" Zack stood up just as she opened the door. She'd expected to see her father, she almost ran out into his arms. But her father was not standing in the hall, instead she looked into the eyes of Don Corneo.

"No…" she backed away,"He's not-"

"You ran away, but I found you." Don Corneo entered the room and closed the door, "That wasn't very smart of you."

"How did you find us?" Zack asked.

"I only came here because you were gone, I needed someone to cook my dinners. But then I heard Aerith shouting…" Don laughed and Aerith flinched. She'd been right, she had heard him, and he'd been right across the hall just like she'd tried to tell Zack. "It's time to come home now." he pulled out a gun. The very same gun that he's shot her with before.

"No way!" Zack rushed forward and got in front of her, "No… she's going home."

"Zack… I'm disappointed in you. Everything you do only leads to her getting hurt." Don shook his head, "But I'm taking you home with me, both of you. I'm having guests and I need you to clean up and prepare a dinner."

"No." Zack said firmly, "We aren't going back."

"Zack…" she pleaded, "He'll shoot you."

"But we can't-" They both watched as Don moved and aimed towards Yuffie.

"Get up and come here." he ordered. Yuffie did as she was told and walked right into his arms, "How about we leave now? Or I'll blow a hole in her head."

Aerith closed her eyes, they had no choice, they had too. She couldn't let him kill Yuffie. It wouldn't be fair… "Alright." she whispered, "I'll come back."

"That's my girl." Don smiled, "Now we'll be going to my car, and you better not make a scene."

"This can't be happening…" Zack whispered. Don left the room with Yuffie and he looked to Aerith, "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't. Please." she said, "Let's just go." She opened her eyes and walked out into the hall. This was the exact opposite of what she wanted, but she had to.

"I- I'll get you home Aerith, I promised you." she heard Zack whisper before taking her hand and leading her into the hall. Aerith walked in silence, she watched Don's hands grasp Yuffie's arm tightly and she shivered. She hoped they wouldn't all be punished for this. Her punishment was inevitable, she knew that much. But maybe Yuffie wouldn't… He said he was having guests, so maybe he wouldn't be able to punish any of them. His guests would hear… maybe…

"Speed up." Don ordered. Aerith obeyed him and sped up. She looked to Zack and he mouthed what he'd said before, 'I'll get you home' she looked away and sighed.

"I hope you're right Zack." she whispered, "I hope you're right."

0.o.0.o.0

That's right Aerith; your journey isn't over yet! It almost is, but not yet. Not yet…


	15. Chapter 15

This story is in the process of being rewritten. I started it at the end of freshman year, and I had great plans for it. But I went too fast and it i'm finding that the story is coming to an end before it should. There was meant to be so much more, character development, relationship development. Really, a lot more. But like I said, i went too fast.

That being said, I hope you guys will stay with me while I do this. I will be adding a lot more chapters to it to better describe Aerith's time as a Honeybee and also to describe what it was like for her family at home.

I'm not sure if I should delete this version and start up a new one or just leave it be. But I know that restarting this will give me the ambition I need to actually finish it up.

Thank you for the support and I hope it will continue.


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